


The President's Man

by dont_hate_me01



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Implied/Referenced Torture, Language, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 09:12:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12814341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: When Jared’s father died ten years ago, Jared became involved with drugs and bad friends. Luckily, he had more than one person in his corner who looked out for him. Things started to look up, but the past became the present and left Jared in more danger than what he thought possible.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SunriseRose1023](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunriseRose1023/gifts).



> Written for [SunriseRose1023](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunriseRose1023), art prompt over on **LJ** for this year's **J2_reversebang**.
> 
>   [](https://imgur.com/oKcZxyv)  
>   
> 
> 
> **Art Description:** Jared Padalecki has a good life. It's a little weird, though. He's in love with his best friend, but that's his secret. That best friend (Jensen) is a model. Another (Misha) is a psychiatrist. He bartends at the local club, owned by a friend/ former friend with benefits (Jeff). Yet another friend is a singer in the club (Briana), and another is a sheriff's deputy (Kim).
> 
> Unbeknownst to him, they've all got the same agenda: Protect Jared at all costs. When they begin to be systematically picked off one by one (by Mark S., Mark P., and Alona), putting his life in grave danger, Jared learns the truth about his friends and himself.
> 
> Thank you to [SunriseRose1023](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunriseRose1023) for the wonderful prompt, I had a wonderful time writing this one. I hope you'll like it.
> 
> To, [VyperDD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VyperDD), a HUGE thank you for the amazingly quick Beta work!

**Chapter 1**

**Washington D.C.: Location Unknown – January 1997**

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Commander Padalecki.” The older man came to his feet and reached out to shake hands. He nodded at the man that stood at the door and looked on as the door closed behind him, leaving the two men alone in the lavished decorated room.

“It’s an honor, Sir.” The man called Ian Padalecki replied. He was slim built, with a thick mop of blond hair and deep blue eyes. At the age of thirty-seven, he was at the height of his career as a decorated Navy Seal. He was about to retire from active duty when he received a call which he couldn’t ignore.

“Let me first inform you why I called you here before you see it as an honor, son.” The man indicated to the seats and took the one he vacated only seconds before. He remained silent until the commander sat down. “I hear that you’ve decided to leave the Navy, Commander. Personal reasons cited.”

“Yes, Sir.” Ian looked down at this hand and twisted the gold band around his finger. “My wife passed away after a short illness. My son is six years old. I need to be part of his life.”

“Family always comes first, but in the same breath I have to say it will be a great loss to the Navy and to our country to lose you.” He stretched out his long legs. “I’ve got a proposition for you. Unfortunately, I cannot give you time to think about it. I would need your answer before you leave here.”

“Sir?”

“Most people hate politics. Hell, I’m in the political game myself, and I hate it. Sometimes in a political situation, a decision is needed, which, for the average man on the street would not make sense, but for the country it could be critical. In most of these instances, speed is of the utmost importance and we cannot wait for a debate before finally taking the necessary steps to rectify the problem. Sometimes, we have to act before it is too late, but we cannot do so through any official channel. There are those situations where we are in need of certain Intel, which we need in a hurry, or keeping sensitive Intel safe. In those scenarios, our actions need to be quick, and silent, without causing any ripples on the surface. What we are doing, we’re doing it for the greater good of our country.”

Ian frowned. He had no idea where this conversation was going to. “Sir, I’m sorry, I don’t want to sound impatient, but what is it that you want me to do?”

The older man laughed. “The reports I received on you indicated that you’re not one for small talk. You want the bare facts as they are.” He came to his feet. “President Washington came with the idea of having a single man by his side to complete certain tasks. That man became known as the President’s man. Each president that served this nation after Washington had a man like that. I would like you to be that man to me.”

Ian came to his feet. He was aware of the fact that he was staring at the President of the United States, but he couldn’t help it. He found his voice. “Me?”

“Don’t look so surprised, Commander. You come highly recommended and a decorated Navy Seal. You’re the best sniper in our armed forces and well-trained in different martial art disciplines. I am aware of the fact that you did apply to become a member of the secret service a few years back. You will find the package deal is quite lucrative and you’ll have more than enough time to spend with your son.”

“And the downside to this position, Sir?”

“Complete deniability. If you get caught, you’ll be out in the cold. If you should lose your life on a mission outside our borders, the chances are that your body will remain unclaimed.”

“There’s nothing like a trial run?”

The President shook his head. “No, but, at least you know it’s only for the next four years.”

“You’re not going to run again, Sir?”

“Let’s see how the first four years go and then we can talk again.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white envelope. “Have a look at this. I hope it will help you in making your decision.”

Ian took the envelope and opened it up. There wasn’t much written on it, but what he did saw made his eyes grow large. “That’s…”

“Only for the first year. At the end of each year we’ll look at it again. You said it yourself, Commander. You’re a single father. That will come in handy, don’t you think?”

Ian looked at the paper again. It would come in more than handy. With Amy passing, their dual income was now down to one, and there were so many unpaid medical bills he still had to pay. And, Jared. He would be able to make sure Jared had a college fund after school. Ian placed the paper back into the envelope and folded it up. “How long will the assignments last?”

“I can’t give you a definite time frame, but I would say no longer than a week, two weeks at the most. And it’s not as if I’m going to need you on a weekly basis. In fact, if I don’t need to use you, I would be most grateful for that. You’ll have more than enough time to see your boy grow up. You can even take up a second job, and even if I don’t use you, you still get paid.”

Ian nodded and then closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and held it in. He let everything around him fade away and stood silent, weighing his options. Finally, he opened his eyes. He turned to the President. “It would be an honor to be the President’s man, Sir.” The two men reached out and shook hands.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**5 Months later**

“Daddy, Daddy!” Six year old Jared rushed out to meet his dad, even as the older man tried to gather his duffel bag to heave it over his shoulder.

“Jared!” Ian let go of the heavy bag and opened up his arms and caught the running boy as he jumped up into his arms.

“You’re home!” Jared hugged his dad tight. “I missed you so much.” He whispered the words in his dad’s neck and swallowed hard. He was a big boy now and wasn’t supposed to cry.

“I missed you even more, Buddy.” Ian shifted Jared to the side without letting go and picked up his duffel bag from the ground. “Let’s get inside, I brought you something.”

“Really?” Jared lifted his head. “A dinosaur?”

Ian laughed. “No, Buddy, unfortunately I couldn’t find one that could fit in my bag, but you’ll like what I did bring.” He stepped up the porch and smiled as the front door opened.

“Sorry, Ian, I tried to keep him inside, but the little rascal is too quick for me.” Samantha Ferris-Beaver stepped to the side as the man and boy entered the home.

“It’s all right, Samantha.” Ian placed his bag down and with Jared still in his arms hugged the older woman hard. “Thank you,” he kissed her on the top of her head.

“No thanks needed, Ian. You know we’ll help you out any time.” Samantha smiled. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, why don’t you go put down your bag and make sure Jared washes up and then we can eat.”

Ian laughed as Jared’s tummy gurgled hard. “Sounds like someone is hungry.” He tickled Jared in his sides and laughed out loud as Jared started giggling.

“Stop, Daddy, Stop!” Jared wiggled and squirmed, but he couldn’t get away from his dad’s fast fingers. “Help, Sam, help!” He tried to reach for the woman but his dad moved them away and he giggled again as his dad picked him high up in the air and held him up above his head.

“Do you yield?” Ian growled and snarled, making funny faces at his son above his head.

“Never!” Jared giggled again. “I will never yield to the tickle monster! I will be saved. My people will save me. They will not forsake me.”

Ian roared and lowered Jared to his chest. “Then I must kidnap you and make sure that no one finds you again! You’re mine, mine!” He tickled Jared again as the two of them disappeared down the passage deeper into the large house.

Samantha shook her head as the father and son entered Ian’s bedroom. It was good to hear Jared’s laughter again. The little boy had a rough time these two weeks when Ian was gone. He barely ate, he cried himself to sleep on more than one occasion and even his teacher at school reported that the boy who rarely sat still for a moment or two was subdued and not taking part in any of the activities at school.

“I gather Ian has returned.” Jim Beaver’s voice sounded at her back and Samantha turned around to face her husband.

“He did, and just in time. I don’t know how long Jared would’ve coped without him.” Samantha leaned her head against her husband’s chest.

Jim didn’t respond. He had no idea what Ian’s job entailed. He knew the man resigned from the Navy, but what he was doing now, was a mystery. Ian didn’t talk about it, and he didn’t ask any questions.

“Help me dish up, please.” Samantha pulled away. “Alona!” She called out to her thirteen-year old daughter but got no response. Samantha sighed. “Must have her earphones on again.” She looked up at her husband. “Please go and call her for me.” Her relationship with her only daughter was not good. Alona was a teenager and tried to push her boundaries as far as she could. She also hung out with older teens who had a bad influence on her. Samantha had confronted her about it, repeatedly and it meant that the two of them budded heads often. At least she still listened to her father – sort of.

“I’ll do that, and I’ll call the other two as well.” Jim stole a quick kiss and then moved to go and call his daughter for dinner as well as Ian and Jared.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared looked on in awe as his dad showed him what he brought him. It was a key chain with a Triceratops. It was one of his favorite dinosaurs. “They were herbivores and lived in herds. They used their three horns for protection.” He smiled. “Thank you, Dad, this is awesome!”

“Let me show you something else.” Ian switched off the light so that the room became dark and pushed the small button on the underside of the dinosaur. He smiled as Jared gasped in surprise. The small light projected a large image of the dinosaur that covered the whole side of the room. “Cool, isn’t it?”

“Really cool!” Jared jumped up and down on the bed and giggled as he stumbled. His dad caught him before he could get hurt and he hugged him tight. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Ian hugged his son close. He could feel the trembles that went through Jared’s little frame and knew his son struggled to keep all his emotions on the inside. “I love you, Buddy.”

“I love you more, Daddy.” Jared replied, softly. His eyes felt heavy and without realizing it, they closed and didn’t open again.

Ian looked up as Jim appeared in the door. “I guess he didn’t sleep too well.” He moved the small body so that Jared would be more comfortable.

Jim shook his head. “It’s good that you’re back, Ian.” He smiled at the large dinosaur image that lightened the room. “Good choice.”

“Didn’t think I would find anything related to a dinosaur, but seemed that luck was on my side.” He looked down at his sleeping boy. “Will you tell Samantha that I’ll grab something a bit later on? I don’t think letting go of this little boy now is a good idea and waking him up will only make him grumpy.”

Jim huffed. “She’ll make sure to put a plate for you in the oven. Get some sleep, Ian. Good night.”

“Good night, Jim.” Ian smiled and looked at his boy again. He turned them so that Jared’s head rested on his chest and then closed his eyes. He completed his first assignment as the President’s man. Tomorrow’s headlines will be full of speculation, but it had nothing to do with him. He’d done what he had to do and it was for the best.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**US 550 (Million Dollar Highway) – July 2007**

“You all right, Ian?” Jeffrey Dean Morgan asked concerned. His friend and mentor has been far too quiet for his liking. “Is everything okay with Jared?”

Ian smiled and nodded his head, but didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Just thinking about something, JD. As for Jared, he’s good. Can’t believe he turned sixteen yesterday.” He wished he could share his concerns with his friend, but it would be too dangerous. Ian had no idea if the information he obtained would be enough, only time would tell. He also had no idea if the Boss would listen to what he had. Ian mentally shook his head. Now, was not the time to think about it. It had been a busy few months, at least now he was heading home and would spend some well-deserved time with his only son. Ian turned his attention back to his friend.

“And I can’t believe that I’ve known you for almost four years and I’ve never met the kid before.”

Ian laughed. “Trust me, you can be grateful for that. When you meet him tomorrow tonight, you’ll see what I mean.”

“He can’t be that bad. I know how I was at his age and I’ve been told plenty of times in my life that I was the worst teenager by far.”

Ian shook his head. “He’s a terrific kid, JD. I’ve never once had a problem with him. He’s at the top of his class. I’ve bragged enough about him for you to know how good he is in sport. He’s popular at school and got loads of friends. He is a well-rounded kid, even if I have to say so myself.”

“No problems with him being gay?” JD asked with concern. Teenage suicides were on the rise as a result of bullying taking place when their sexual orientation became known. Ian had told him a few months back that Jared told him that he was gay.

“There were a few complaints about him playing on the basketball team, so he quit the team and when they lost three games in a row, the team had a talk and begged him to come back. He won the next two games almost single-handed for the team and from there on end all the nastiness also stopped. There are still a few grumbles, but the team has his back and he doesn’t care what other people say about him.”

“Boyfriend?”

Ian rolled his eyes. “No one serious, but there are some boys who like to overstay their welcome, especially in the middle of the week. But, they’re all good boys and all still attending school, which is a good thing.”

“So do you think, Jared’s virtue will be safe this weekend?” JD asked with a smirk as Ian gaped at him.

“What the fuck?” Ian slammed his fist into Jeffrey’s shoulder. “Don’t even say something like that. Jared might be a boy, but he’s still my son and still a minor, I definitely don’t need to hear about his virtue, especially not from the likes of you.” It was his turn to laugh at the expression on Jeffrey’s face.

“You wound me,” Jeffrey grabbed his chest. “You know I’m not into cradle snatching.”

Ian snorted. “That’s because you know I will cut your dick off should you try anything.”

Jeffrey grinned. He wanted to respond when a hard _POP_ sounded through the vehicle and the car swerved across the road. “What the fuck!”

“Burst tire,” Ian struggled to get the car under control. They were traveling on one of the most dangerous roads in the country. The two-lane road was narrow, with a steep cliff on the one side and no guardrails made it difficult to navigate on the best of days and today was not such a day. The road was wet and planes of water lingered on the surface. Ian had to struggle hard, it was as if he had no control over the car, never mind how hard he tried to get the vehicle under control.

Ian tried to right the car, but the back end swung out wide. “Hang on!” He screamed. Drops of sweat decorated his upper lip as he fought the car with everything he had in him. They were approaching a dangerous turn in the road and he wanted to bring the car to a halt before things could get any worse.

Jeffrey grabbed hold of the sissy bar as the car swerved to the side again. He could smell the burnt tires. Ian had the car in the lowest gear possible, but it didn’t seem to slow the car down at all. He cursed as another tire burst and the car skidded to the other side. “Fuck!” He yelled. Things were not looking good.

They were right at the sharp turn and Ian continued to try to get the vehicle under control, the car lurched to the side and before he could correct it, the car skidded on a plane of water and hit the side of the rocky outcrop that formed part of the shoulder of the road. Both men grunted out in pain as they got jolted hard. Ian fought the car with everything he had in him, but the car flipped and rolled. The edge of the cliff came closer with each passing second, and then the earth beneath the car dropped.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Padalecki Residence: Following day**

Jared pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees. Something was wrong, he was sure of it. His dad should’ve been home by now. He’d tried to phone him, but the phone went straight to the message service. That in itself was strange. Jared couldn’t remember that he ever had to leave a message for his dad. The man always answered. He looked up as a shadow fell over him. “Something is wrong.”

“Nonsense,” Samantha shook her head, but at the same time she felt the same worry so clearly edged on the teen’s face. “He’s just delayed. He’ll be on time, you’ll see.” She closed the distance between them and gave the lanky teen a hug. “Why don’t you get ready? Surely, you don’t want to go to your own party dressed like that.” She poked him with her finger.

Jared managed to smile as he looked down at himself. He was still dressed in an old T-shirt and some tatty jeans. “I think I need a shower as well.” He sniffed at himself and pulled a face. “Definitely a shower first.” He came to his feet. “Let my dad yell through the door when he comes in, please.”

Samantha nodded her head. “I’ll do that.” She looked on as the teenager walked from the room and only when he disappeared from her sight did she let the worry show. Ian should’ve been back by now. In fact, he should’ve been back yesterday. He’d managed to get his work done earlier than expected and was returning home without telling Jared as he wanted to surprise him. She was glad that Jared didn’t know about this. She looked over her shoulder as the love of her life entered the large living room.

“I’ve started phoning hospitals.” Jim sighed and straightened his shoulders. “Ian better have a damn good explanation for this.”

“I’m sure he has.” Samantha came to her feet. “He will never let that boy of his down. He’ll be home soon.” She couldn’t think of the alternative.

Jim reached for her hand and squeezed it tight. “Let’s get ready. It’s almost time for Jared’s party.”

Samantha wanted to answer when a car pulled up in the drive way. Both turned and she felt her legs give way. “No.” She didn’t even have to see who got out of the car to know it could only be bad news.

“Shit,” Jim mumbled as he let go of his wife’s hand and made his way over to the front door. He opened it before the man on the other side could knock.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared came walking into the living room, he had a towel over his head, rubbing his hair. His chest was bare. “I heard the car. It took you long enough, old man. Why are you late?” He removed the towel and looked up.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jared took a step back. The man in front of him was unknown. He looked at where Samantha and Jim sat on the couch. “What’s going on?”

Jim got to his feet. “I’m sorry, Jared.” He swallowed hard.

“No, no.” Jared shook his head. Immediately he knew something was wrong and he didn’t want to hear the words. “You’re wrong.” He looked at the man who still had to say a word. “Who are you?”

“My name is Mike, I worked with your father.” He took a breath, but Jared interrupted him.

“What happened?”

“There was an accident. It seemed he lost control over the car. I’m sorry.”

Jared shook his head. “You’re lying. He’s not dead.”

The man called Mike cleared his throat. “I wish I was. It was my responsibility to identify the body. It is him.”

“NO!!” Jared roared and with a single sweep cleared all the trophies, knickknacks and photos from the large sideboard.

“Jared!” Jim came to his feet and rushed to the distraught teen. He tried to reach out, but Jared ducked out of his way and stormed off. The front door slammed shut, as the teen fled the house.

“Jared!” Jim called out, but stopped as Samantha placed a hand on his shoulder. She shook her head; her eyes filled with tears. Jim took a deep breath and gathered her into his arms. He looked at the stranger across from them. He couldn’t find his words. A man and a friend who he knew for almost thirty years was dead and there was nothing he could say or do that would change the situation. It was as if all the life inside of him got sucked out in mere seconds. Jim’s heart ached, not only for his dead friend, but for a young man that lost the most important person in his life. He had no idea how Jared was going to cope in the troubled times ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Office of Doctor Misha Collins: September 2017**

“It’s been a while since you’ve been on edge like this, Jared.” Misha observed with concern. His patient and best friend paced the room. He knew Jared for the past seven years, having met the young man just after his nineteenth birthday under some very difficult circumstances. Even then, he realized just what a fighter Jared was. He managed to overcome a horrific drug addiction, got his GED after he dropped out of school and even though he got himself in some serious trouble by hacking into a top security agency, he still managed to pull himself together and was now busy working on his Master’s degree in data mining to combat crime.

Jared snorted and rubbed his hands across his arms. He was cold. “It’s nothing.”

Misa managed not to sigh. “Did you use?”

Jared lowered his head, but then shook it. “I bought it, but I didn’t use it. I flushed it.”

“You are feeling guilty about that.” Misha leaned forward.

“About what? Buying it, not using it, flushing it?”

“You tell me, Jared.” Misha looked on as Jared fidgeted with his clothes.

“Fuck off, Misha. Don’t try to psychoanalyze me. I don’t need that.” He pushed his hands into his jean’s pockets.

It was Misha’s turn to snort. With any other patient, he wouldn’t have dared. “When was the last time you had a look at the degrees against the wall there, Jared? You know very well I am a qualified medical doctor and a psychologist and you’re my patient. But, you’re also my friend.”

“Well then act like one.” Jared snapped. “I shouldn’t have come.” He made no attempt to leave.

Misha remained quiet. Jared was looking for a fight, but he had no idea why. There was something going on with the twenty-six-year-old and he hoped that Jared would confide in him what it was.

Jared paced the room once more and then leaned against the large bay window that looked out on the beautiful maintained garden. “I don’t steal.”

Misha nodded but didn’t speak up.

“You know I don’t steal.” He pushed away from the window. “Just because I used drugs, doesn’t make me a liar and a thief. I didn’t do it. You know I won’t.

“What happened, Jared?” Misha asked quietly.

“A fucking bitch at the bar last night accused me of stealing cash out of her purse.”

Misha shook his head. “Language, Jared.”

“She is a fucking bitch.” Jared started pacing again.

“She remains a woman, and you know my stance about you calling women derogatory names.”

Jared mumbled something. “I apologize.” His shoulders sagged.

“Apology accepted. What happened next?”

“JD took her to the office. He called me in as well. It didn’t matter that I told her I didn’t take her money, she kept on saying I did.”

“What about the cameras?” Misha knew Jeffrey had a state of the art security system in the bar. Something like that would’ve been easy to sort out.

“There’s a glitch in the system. The cameras have been off line for the past week and a half.”

“What did Jeffrey do?”

“He told her she had no proof and that he was sorry for the loss she suffered, but there was nothing he could do. He said he believed me when I said I didn’t take the money. She screamed about reporting the matter to the sheriff and then ran out of there, swearing at me and at JD.” Jared took a deep breath. “Jeffrey told me to go home, that he would cover the rest of my shift until closing time. So I left.”

“That’s why you bought the drugs?”

Jared nodded.

“Do you know if the woman went to the sheriff?”

“Kim and JD showed up at the house this morning. Kim took my statement, but also said it wasn’t the first time for the woman to accuse a bartender of stealing her cash. She was sure that nothing would come of it.”

Misha nodded. Kim Rhodes was JD’s girlfriend and the deputy sheriff. She had a good head on her shoulders and would investigate the case fully. It also seemed like the woman was working a scheme. Accusing the bartender of stealing her money would make most bar owners nervous and not to give their establishment a bad name, they would cover the tab. But, in the meantime, the woman had no money to pay in any case. He would follow up with Jeffrey and Kim. “What else, Jared?”

“I quit.”

“Did Jeffrey asked you to resign?”

Jared shook his head. “I don’t want to make any trouble for JD, Misha. You know this town still sees him as a stranger, even if he has been here now for eight years. He would lose business because of me. And that’s not right.” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry.”

Misha regarded his friend. Jared was seen as the town outcast by most people. It didn’t matter that he grew up here. But, because his dad died and Jared totally went off the reservation by not only dropping out of school, but also getting busted for drugs numerous times before ending up in a juvenile detention center for a year made the town eye him with suspicion nine times out of ten. Jared had a heart of gold. He would do everything in his power to help those who needed help. He was right, he would never steal. It didn’t matter how bad things got for him, he never took anything that didn’t belong to him. Unfortunately, the town only saw what they wanted to. “Why are you saying sorry to me? You’ve done nothing wrong.” He took a deep breath when Jared remained quiet. He knew Jared well enough to know the younger man felt guilty, especially since it was through Misha that he got the job at Jeff’s place as a bartender slash bouncer. The fact that Jared earned the work, wouldn’t matter to him. “What are you going to do now?” He knew it would be useless to try and talk Jared out his decision. Jared was really bullheaded and if he decided to do something there was nothing anyone could do to persuade him otherwise.

Jared shrugged. “I need to do more research on my thesis. Now I’ll have time to do that.”

“Old Miss Crafter not giving you any problems at the library?” Misha got to his feet and walked to the coat rack. He removed a thick jacket and handed it to Jared with a raised eyebrow.

Jared rolled his eyes but took the jacket. He should’ve known that Misha would pick up on the fact that he was cold. “She still follows me around whenever I go and get a book, but at least she’s no longer huffing at me, so it’s a win, I suppose.” He didn’t add that she no longer supervised his sessions on the computers in the library. What Misha didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

It was Misha’s turn to shake his head. He wanted to say he was sorry, but it wouldn’t change the situation. He looked Jared over again. The younger man had stopped shivering and he seemed more relaxed. “Are you going to a meeting?”

“They’re meeting on Friday, I will go then.” Jared lowered himself to the floor and stretched his long legs out before him. “I miss Jensen.”

Misha smiled at the mention of Jensen’s name. The three of them were like peas in a pot. People always found it strange on how close of a friendship the three of them had and how quickly it developed. Especially, if you took into account that Misha was twelve years older than Jared and Jensen was four years older than Jared. While he first qualified as a doctor, specializing in trauma and then studied further as a psychologist, Jensen did a stint with the Marines serving his country overseas before he became a model. He worked all over the States and the world for that matter. With his freaking good looks, he made lots of heads turn, both males and females. “Have you called him?”

“No, he’s busy. He’ll be back by the weekend, so it can wait.”

“Misha sighed silently. “You know he’s never too busy for you, Jared.”

“Drop it, Misha.” Jared came to his feet. “I need to go.” He pushed his hands deep into the jacket pockets. “I’ll return this to you tonight.”

“It’s Jensen’s so you can keep it. See you at seven for dinner tonight.” He didn’t make it an invitation. He knew Jared would see it as meddling, but he needed to keep an eye on Jared. Just because he flushed the drugs this time, didn’t mean he’ll do it again. It was going to be a hard few days on Jared. He made a mental note to phone Jensen and get him to phone their stubborn friend. He really wanted to bang their heads together. They were like love sick puppies, but too scared to take the first step, both of them convinced that the other didn’t return their feelings. Maybe he should just get them together and talk to both of them, but with Jared you never know what might happen.

Jared merely grunted at the statement and then with a wave of his hand left the office.

Misha leaned back in his chair. He tapped with his pen against the desk. He had to make sure Jared stayed busy this week. The hard part would be to arrange it in such a manner that Jared didn’t realize what he was doing. He reached for his phone, but first things first. He had to phone Jensen.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Undisclosed location: Paris, France**

Jensen looked down at the message on his phone. It was from Misha and he frowned. Misha was one of a selected few who knew this number, but also knew not to use it, unless it was extremely important. He sighed and then pocketed the phone. He couldn’t give attention to it at the moment, it would have to wait until he finished his business. Jensen picked up the small cup of semi hot liquid and swallowed the last few sips. He replaced the cup and picked up the novel he had with him. With an air of laziness that surrounded him, he came to his feet. As a man stepped pass him, he fell in behind him, and walked at a leisurely pace.

They entered the mètro and Jensen waited patiently for the train to arrive. The line 6 train stopped and for a change the train wasn’t crowded and he found a seat next to the man who got into the train before him. Fairly quickly the train pulled away. Even though the train wasn’t crowded it was still stuffy, the lack of air-conditioned air not unexpected. The stations passed one after the other. At Bir-Hakeim station Jensen pushed past the man he was seated next to and exited the train. Not once did he look back. He could see the Eiffel Tower from where he stood. It remained fairly impressive, never mind how many times he saw it before. As he walked past a trash can he slipped off the gloves he had on and tossed them away. The syringe landed up beneath a passing train and there would be no evidence linking him to the dead guy on the train.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“What’s wrong?” Jensen asked as he toweled his hair dry. His bag was already packed and he would be on the way back home within the next few hours.

_“Phone Jared.”_

“He all right, Misha?” Jensen sat down on the bed.

_“He’s having a rough time, he could benefit from hearing your voice.”_

“Did he use?” Jensen closed his eyes and prayed that the answer would be in the negative.

_“He flushed it. But, he’s really on edge, Jensen. Phone the man, please.”_

“Fuck. I’m on my way back home. Things got done quicker here than what I thought. I’ll be home in about eleven hours.” He still had to get through customs.

_“Good. You can then make sure Jared attends Briana’s concert at Jeff’s. Phone him. Fly safe.”_

Jensen looked at the phone in his hand. Misha didn’t even give him a chance to say goodbye. “Fucking asshat.” He smiled as he tossed the phone to the side. He would phone Jared the moment he got to the airport.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

_“I can’t believe he phoned you.”_

Jensen smiled even though Jared couldn’t see him. “You should know by now how that’s how Misha operates.”

_“He’s fucking crazy, Jen. I can’t believe they gave him two degrees to call himself doctor.”_

Jensen laughed. “You all right, buddy?” He could hear Jared sigh across the phone.

_“I fucked up.”_

“You know that’s not true, Jay. Misha didn’t tell me everything, but I know you didn’t use.” He was greeted with silence. “Jared?”

_“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. I’m hanging out with Briana, she’s performing on Saturday. It’s going to be awesome.”_

Jensen wanted to respond, but then smiled as he heard Jared banter with Briana. He could hear her laughing in the background. She was a close friend to Jared and he appreciated the fact that she always managed to keep Jared grounded whenever they were together.

_Jared laughed and his voice came back over the phone. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”_

Jensen sighed. He should’ve known that Jared wouldn’t talk to him. “I’m at the airport. The photo shoot got done sooner than what I thought it would be. I’m waiting for my flight. I’ll be home in about ten hours.”

_“I’ll pick you up.”_

Jensen wanted to respond, ask about Briana, but Jared had ended the call. He sighed and looked at the phone in his hand. Maybe he should phone Jeff. The older man might have more information for him. They were all very protective of the younger man for various reasons, some of them Jared wasn’t even aware of. He scrolled down his contact list when the phone rang in his hand. His shoulders sagged. Getting a call from this number never meant good news. He answered the call as he came to his feet. He had a feeling he would need privacy for this call.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Jeff’s Bar and Grill**

Jeff flung the cloth he used to clean the counter to the side as the phone in his pocket chimed. He pulled it out and looked at the message. “What the fuck?” He frowned. “This can’t be good.” He looked around and then grabbed his keys. It was still early enough so that none of the regulars were there, it meant that the bar was still empty. Without hesitating, he closed the door to the bar, set the alarm and exited through the side door.

As he walked to his truck he made a call. He didn’t even wait for the person on the other side to answer when he started asking questions.

“How reliable is the information?” He listened to the answer and cursed again. He pocketed the keys to the bar and with the phone still pressed against his ear, he took out the Harley’s keys and swung his leg over the saddle. “Follow it up and make sure of the facts and keep me up to date.” He shook his head even if the person on the other side couldn’t see him. “I don’t give a fuck on what time it is where in the world, find out, confirm and get back to me. I want to know everything, and by everything, I mean every fucking last bit of info out there. And be quick about it. FUCK!” Jeff ended the call and started the motorcycle. He had to get to Jared, he could only hope that he would be at the house.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Padalecki Residence**

Jeffrey got up from the bike and made his way over to the front door. He frowned when he saw the door open. Jared always kept it locked, ever since some of the punks in town decided a year or what back to toss the house and spray paint every possible surface. Without hesitating, he pulled the Beretta from beneath his jacket out of the shoulder holster. He quietly went up the porch and gently pushed the door open. The living room was in total disarray. Even the large leather couch was turned over. Several photo frames were on the floor, the glass trampled into pieces. Jeffrey stepped over the broken glass silently and made his way deeper into the house.

He cleared the dining room, pantry, kitchen and Jared’s dad study before he made his way up to the first floor. He knew he should’ve called the Sheriff, or at least call Kim, but first he had to make sure Jared was all right. His stomach dropped as he found drops of blood on the banister. He gripped the pistol harder and stepped up onto the landing. The bedroom doors were all open. Items, including pieces of clothing littered the passage. Jeffrey wanted to pass all of the bedrooms and head straight for Jared’s but he couldn’t. It was not the way he was trained. He pushed the worried side of him down, and searched the rooms. Jared’s room was the last one on the right. He stepped inside and cleared it quickly. Jared wasn’t there and it was a bad sign.

Jeffrey made his way down the stairs, his phone pressed against his ear. He had to call Kim, but first he had to find out what the fuck was going on. He headed towards the back of the house when movement to the side of him had him ducking. He barely had time to bring up his arm, before a powerful blow struck his forearm. He screamed as the bone snapped, but managed to keep the firearm in his hand, he turned and pulled the trigger. The man staggered two steps back and then fell to the floor and didn’t get back up.

“Fucking prick,” Jeffrey kicked the dead man in the side. He hissed in pain and looked down at his arm. It was a clean break and his arm throbbed. He bent down and removed the balaclava the man had over his face. He stared at the face, it was unfamiliar. “Must’ve come around,” he muttered to himself as he searched the dead man’s pockets for any identity. Jeffrey wasn’t surprised when he didn’t find anything. It wasn’t as if thugs like the one at his feet carried around identity. He looked at the phone in his hand. Killing the guy just complicated things. He sighed and cancelled the number he wanted to dial in the first place. It was time to call in the big guns and they would have to clean up this mess. He had to find Jared.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Dulles Airport**

Misha’s shoulders sagged in relief as he spotted the man he was looking for. Jared sat on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest with a pencil in his hand and a sketchbook balanced on his knees. Misha took in the people around them and lowered himself on the floor. “You know he’s only landing in about three hours.” Silently, he was grateful that Jared decided to come earlier, especially after Jeffrey’s call. He knew Jeffrey would make sure everything was back to normal when they returned. He knew they had to tell Jared about the incident at his house, but between him and Jeffrey they decided it was best to wait for Jensen.

Jared didn’t even look up from the sketch, but continued drawing what he saw around him. He wasn’t surprised that Misha showed up, he should’ve known that Misha would keep an extra eye on him after what he told him in their session in the morning.

“You giving me the cold shoulder?” Misha bumped his shoulder against Jared’s, but made sure he didn’t jerk his arm not to ruin the sketch he worked on.

“It didn’t work before, I can’t see it working now.” Jared mumbled before he closed the sketchpad and leaned with his head against the wall. “You phoned Jensen.”

Misha nodded. He phoned Jensen more than once, but he knew to which call Jared referred to. “You wouldn’t have phoned him yourself.”

“Who says?” Jared asked, his tone flat.

Misha laughed. “Jared, I’ve known you for too long. I know just as well as you know that you wouldn’t have done that.”

Jared looked down at his hands. “I didn’t use, I promise.”

Misha rolled his eyes and placed his arm across Jared’s shoulder. “I know, and you know that I still care for you. We all do. It doesn’t matter if you’ve used or not.”

Jared shrugged and his stomach used the opportunity to moan about its emptiness. By the look Misha gave him, he knew his friend heard the grumble as well.

“You didn’t eat this morning.” Misha pulled away from his friend and got to his feet. He reached out to help Jared off the floor. “When was the last time you ate?” He asked as he pulled Jared up. He hid the growl as Jared shrugged. “Well then, let’s get some food into you. I don’t want Jensen on my neck if you fainted like a girl because you didn’t eat.”

“I’m not hungry,” Jared responded sullenly.

“And yet, I heard your stomach growl.” Misha shook his head. “Come one, let’s get something to eat. You’re already grouchy due to the lack of food.” He didn’t give Jared a chance to respond but pushed him in the direction of the various restaurants that littered the airport. Misha got them a table at the back and made sure he had a clear view of the front of the restaurant before he sat back. When Jared took out his own phone, Misha quickly fired off a text message to both Jeffrey and Jensen. He knew both men would see it that moment they checked their phones. He shifted in his seat, the Glock at his back a bit bothersome, as it’s been a while since he carried a firearm. At least he still had his permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“What’s wrong?” Jared suddenly asked.

Misha frowned and shook his head. “Nothing, why?”

“Because you’re nervous. You keep fidgeting and I swear you’re going to kill the waitress the next time you don’t hear her approaching. I’m just not sure if you’re going to use your fork or the bread stick.”

Misha wanted to kick himself. He should’ve realized that Jared would pick up on his nervousness, but there wasn’t anyone else they could send to make sure Jared was safe until they found out who was responsible for breaking into Jared’s home. “Nothing.” He shrugged.

Jared snorted. “You never believe when I tell you that, so why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m me and you are you and that’s two totally different things.” Misha kicked Jared on the shin. “Eat your food. Jensen’s going to have my ass if he sees how skinny you got in this past two weeks.” His attempt to distract Jared seemed to have worked as Jared stared at him before he picked up his fork and stabbed his mac and cheese as if it was going to try and run off the plate. “Good, we’ll fatten you up fast.” He laughed and ducked when Jared picked up a piece of rocket from his side salad and threw it at his head.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“You all right?” Jensen asked as the phone connected. He still couldn’t believe what had happened. First, he got information on the code name - _Black Jack_ which Jared’s dad used, but things were sketchy and he had to phone more than one person to get them all to start gathering Intel. Then JD phoned him about an old friend who phoned him to say that there were people looking for Jared, only to get different messages from both JD and Misha to say that not only did someone break into the house he shared with Jared, but that JD had killed one and got a broken arm for his effort. Now, JD was at the ER and Misha was babysitting Jared, who, still had no idea of what happened. It was a total fuck up.

Jensen listened intently before he responded. “I’ll make sure we bunk at Misha’s place tonight, Jeff. Get some rest with that arm, I’m going to need you to find out what the fuck is going on and who wants what with Jared.” He closed his eyes for a second. “He doesn’t need this. Not now.” Jensen took a deep breath. “I need to get going, Jeff. We’ll keep him safe for tonight and tomorrow we start looking for some answers.” He ended the call and walked towards the baggage carousel to pick up his bag. A sharp whistle made him turn and he smiled as he noticed Jared to the side, his bag at his feet. Jensen’s eyes landed on Misha. The man was standing two paces behind Jared, his stance looked relaxed, but Jensen knew he was ready to act in a second. Misha might be a psychologist by day, but he was still a brilliant special ops member, slash bodyguard. If he or JD couldn’t have Jared’s back, the only other person he trusted was Misha.

Before he could close the distance between them, Jared had done it already and he found himself being hugged hard by the younger man. “You planning on letting me breathe anytime soon?” Jensen asked against Jared’s shoulder as he continued to hug him tight.

“You’re superman, you don’t need air to breathe.” Jared replied, but at the same time he loosened the hold he had over Jensen, but didn’t move away.

Jensen chuckled and slapped Jared on the back before the two of them finally moved apart. “You’ve lost some weight.” He arched his brow and sighed when Jared immediately looked guilty. “You’re really going to make me call you three times a day, aren’t you?” He asked with a smile as he lightly punched Jared in the arm. “We’ll work it out.” He kept Jared closed to his side, as they took the two steps towards Misha.

“You’re the only one that can manage to work up a tan by strutting up and down a runway,” Misha teased as he leaned in and gave Jensen a hug as well.

“What can I say, I’m special.” Jensen teased back. He kept an arm over Jared’s shoulder as he leaned down to pick up his bag. He didn’t fail to notice that Misha made sure to walk on the other side of Jared, keeping him in between them, making sure that he was safe.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Misha’s residence**

“Why are we here, I thought we’re going home?” Jared griped as he got out of the passenger seat of his own car. Jensen never lets him drive, didn’t matter whose car they used.

“Because Misha’s TV is bigger and I want to show you all of the amazing photos I took. That thing we call a TV will never do justice to the photos. And besides, Misha told me he invited you for dinner and we both know just how good he is at that.” Jensen replied with a grin.

Jared shrugged, but moved towards the house. Misha arrived before them and he could see his friend moving around inside the house.

Jensen looked on as Jared made his way into Misha’s house. He looked around him, making sure that there wasn’t anyone staking out the house. He entered and locked the door behind him. When Jared looked at him with a raised eyebrow he grinned. “Don’t want you to run away when I show you all the museums I visited.” He laughed when Jared showed him the middle finger.

They made themselves comfortable on Misha’s couch as Misha moved around in the kitchen. Neither of them offered to help, both knowing that Misha hated someone else in his kitchen while he prepared food. Jensen pulled Jared closer to his side. “How you’re doing?”

Jared leaned back, his head rested on Jensen’s arm. “Can we talk about it later?”

Jensen suppressed a sigh. “Only if you tell me you’re okay for now.”

“I’m okay for now.” Jared didn’t even bother to open his eyes. He was bone tired and gave a huge yawn. “Wake me up when Misha’s ready to feed us.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but wiggled lower into the couch until he found a comfortable spot and drifted off to sleep.

“Why do I have the feeling that eating was not the only thing he didn’t do well?” Jensen inquired as Misha came in with a large mug of coffee. It smelt like heaven.

“I could only gripe to him about one thing, I chose the fact that he didn’t eat. You know Jared, if you bothered him too much he would’ve shut down totally. He also told me he’s working on his thesis. You know him, the moment he starts doing research, he loses touch with the rest of the world.”

Jensen nodded. “Do you know if the woman still insists on proceeding with the case?” He hated the fact that someone accused Jared of something he’d never do.

“I’ve heard nothing so far, but with what happened earlier today, I think that will be placed on the back burner for now.” Misha got up from his chair and collected a thin blanket that was draped over the back of the couch. He gently placed it over the sleeping figure. “He missed you so much.”

Jensen placed his hand on Jared’s head and gently worked his fingers through the thick hair. “You know I can’t.” He didn’t complete the sentence.

Misha managed not to growl. He understood Jensen’s situation, but both of them were suffering as a result of Jensen not being able to commit and Jared feeling that Jensen wasn’t interested in him. “You thought of resigning?”

Jared shifted in his sleep restless and Jensen hummed quietly. It had the required effect as Jared settled down again. “Each and every day, but I love my work, Misha. You know that.”

“I do, but it’s so dangerous. Have you thought about what would happen to Jared if you got killed? He wouldn’t be told what happened, he’d be left out in the cold, and would have more unanswered questions than what he have now.”

Jensen’s head snapped back. “I thought he put that file away?”

Misha nodded. “He did. But I saw it in his backpack last week. You know until he finds out the truth, he will never let it go.”

Jensen sighed tiredly. “It’s been thoroughly investigated and ruled an accident.”

Misha snorted. “Tell that to Jared and to Jeffrey, who still can’t remember what happened.” He stopped talking as Jensen’s phone chimed.

Jensen leaned to the side and removed the phone from his pocket. “Kim?” he asked in concern as he answered the phone. “What?” He hissed and managed to worm out from underneath Jared without waking the younger man. He turned ash white. Jensen dragged his hand over his face and nodded his head, even though Kim couldn’t see him. “Keep me up to date. We’re both here at Misha’s place.” He ended the call.

“What happened?” Misha also came to his feet.

Jensen closed his eyes. He ran his hand across his face. “Fuck.” He took a deep breath. “There was an explosion at the bar. Briana, Briana was inside. She didn’t make it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Abbreviations:**  
>  CMC = Commandant of the Marine Corps  
> CinC = Commander in Chief (President)

**Chapter 3**

By the time Jared woke up, Jensen and Misha were on the second pot of coffee. Neither man had slept. Misha had left for the bar just after Jensen got the call, while Jensen stayed with Jared. Something told both men that the explosion was not an accident.

“What’s going on?” Jared asked as he blindly reached for the coffee. He had his back turned to his friends and didn’t see the look that passed between them.

Misha cleared his throat. He pushed the chair next to him out. “You should sit down.”

Jared stilled and turned around. He hated those words, it never meant anything good. “What happened, is it JD? Kim?”

“Jared,” Jensen got to his feet and walked around the table so that he stood at Jared’s side. He lowered his head and pinched his eyes shut. When he opened them up again, they were filled with sorrow. “There was some sort of an explosion at Jeff’s bar.”

“What? When, is everyone all right?” Jared looked between his two best friends.

Jensen shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. Briana was there, setting things up for the gig.” He swallowed hard. “She didn’t make it.”

Jared tumbled into the chair and lowered his face in his hands. “No, no. It can’t be. Are you sure? What type of explosion, a gas leak?” He looked up at Jensen.

“Kim confirmed it, Jared.” Misha responded as reached out and took hold of Jared’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

Jared looked down at the table and shook his head. “It can’t be. I was with her yesterday. We set up the extra lighting that she wanted. We made jokes.” He pushed himself away from the table. “I need air.”

Jensen wanted to follow, but Misha shook his head. “Give him time.”

“Damn it, Misha, what the fuck is going on?” Jensen kept his voice low, he didn’t want Jared to hear their conversation.

Misha came to his feet. “I’ve told you what the fire chief told me, last night. That explosion was not caused by a gas leak. I don’t know what is going on, but it’s no coincidence that there’s chatter about Ian Padalecki’s covert-name, the fact that someone broke into Jared’s home and then this. There’s something going on and we need to find out what, sooner rather than later.”

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Misha’s Residence: 5 hours later**

“Shit!” JD called out as he looked up and saw Jared standing in the doorway. “Jared!” He called and started following the younger man. “Jared!” He got no reply. He could hear Jensen behind him, but he didn’t wait, instead he made his way out of the house. He wasn’t surprised to see Jared getting into his car and speeding off. He wanted to get onto his Harley, but Jensen grabbed his arm and held him back.

“Did he hear us?”

Jeffrey nodded. “When I looked up, he stood in the door. The look on his face – it said it all. Fuck!”

“You can say that again. Okay, let’s get Misha’s car and go and get him.” Jensen didn’t try and think what Jared might have overheard. It didn’t matter if it was only a small part of the conversation, it would’ve had a huge impact on Jared. He shuddered to think what impact it would have on their friendship.

“The Harley is quicker.” Jeffrey moved towards his mode of transport again.

“Don’t be an ass, JD. You’ve got a broken arm. Hell knows, I don’t even want to know how you got here on that thing.”

“It’s not the first time, I’ve driven before with one or other broken bone in my body, Jensen. It most likely will not even be the last time.” He limped heavily, but followed Jensen.

“We’ve got enough to worry about, I don’t want to worry about you and your arm as well.” Jensen snapped. He stormed into the house and snatched Misha’s keys from the side table. “Jared overheard me and JD talking and then he left. We’re going after him.” He ignored Jeffrey at his back.

Misha got to his feet. “I’ll come with.”

“No,” JD responded. “Stay here. If he comes back then at least we’ll know where he is.”

“Jensen knows where he’ll be.” Misha counter argued, but at the same time he took his seat again. He had a writing pad in front of him with some extensive notes written on it.

“That’s Jared’s.” Jeffrey remarked.

“Go get Jared, I’ll fill you in later. Fix that problem first.”

“So that’s a problem too?” Jensen inquired.“It might be, but get Jared first. Come back here and let’s see how we can fix things.” Misha closed the writing pad.

Jensen looked intently at Misha and then nodded his head. “Come on, there’s only one place he’d go to.” He didn’t wait for JD but exited the room in a hurry.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared couldn’t get the conversation he overheard out of his head. It didn’t make sense. At first when he heard Jensen and Jeffrey talk, he wanted to enter. He had to know if JD knew anything more about the explosion at the bar, but before he could enter the room, JD said his father’s name. It made him stop in his tracks.

_“I can’t see the connection between this and Ian, Jensen, but it must be there. I mean, what’s the chance that we all get Intel on Ian’s cover at the same time. I don’t know who’s using that name, but it’s definitely not Ian. I was there when he died, Jensen. He was my best friend. I was right next to him and there was nothing I could do. And what the hell does everything have to do with Jared? He was sixteen when Ian died.”_

_“That’s what we have to figure out, JD. I just don’t know how. I’m thinking that Jared might be onto something that Ian’s death wasn’t an accident after all.”_

At that stage Jared wanted to speak up. JD knew his dad. More important, he was with his father in the car when he died. Why didn’t they tell him? Why didn’t Jensen tell him? He wanted to storm in and demand some answers when Jeffrey looked up. He saw the shock in JD’s eyes and in that moment, he didn’t want to hear what either man had to say. They lied to him. They’ve been lying to him for eight years. Jared did the only thing he could think of – he ran.

Jared looked around. He loved this spot. The town had a lake, or more accurately a large dam which was fairly deep and off bounds to all the children in the area. Of course, that meant that every kid hangs out here whenever they could. At least now it was deserted, school was still in session and even those who decided to skip school didn’t come here. He knew that Jensen and Jeffrey would find him here. Jensen knew him well enough to know this is the place he came when he needed time to think. But that was the problem, he couldn’t think. It was as if his brain got stuck and he had no idea on how to get it unstuck.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Misha lowered his head in his hands the moment Jensen and Jeffrey left the house. The shit just hit the fan and it didn’t make a pretty picture. Jared would be furious. He would not listen to reason, at least not for the next day or so. Jared would demand answers, answers Misha knew they wouldn’t be allowed to give him, but he also knew Jensen. If Jared pushed hard enough, he would tell him. More importantly, he would also not hesitate to tell Jared anything he wanted to know.

Misha picked up the writing pad and read through the notes Jared made. It seemed like Jared was up to his old tricks from a while back and that might be the reason someone is now after him. He came to his feet, he needed a drink to make sure he was thinking everything through.

With the drink in hand, Misha sat down again. Jared had made some interesting notes, which if you’re not clued up with what’s going on in certain circles of politics, it would seem farfetched, except that it wasn’t.

After Ian died and Jared fell apart, the genius not only became involved in drugs and bad friends, but he picked up a hobby. A very dangerous hobby. He became a cyber-hacker. As a teenager, he knew all about computer technology and he started going through all of the data he could get on the death of his father. There wasn’t much and he was never satisfied with what he found. He gained more knowledge and skills and soon he was a well-known entity in the hacking community. He was rebellious, hurt, and high on drugs and just didn’t give a damn when he started doing serious hacking. He acknowledged to Misha that the main reason he did what he did was because for that moment the adrenaline in his system was enough for him to feel alive. Not to even think that his father was dead. The thrill of hacking into a system had one purpose and that was to keep him high when the drugs no longer worked.

Jared became reckless, and when he hacked into the Pentagon, he caught the attention of the powers that be in the government. By that time, he’d done some damage, and the order was clear. Find him and eliminate the problem. When Jared’s identity got out, people who knew his father, including the last two presidents which Ian served, stepped forward and Jared was allowed to live a free life. Even eight years later he was still banned from using a computer without strict supervision, but he wasn’t locked into a tiny cell only to feel the sun on his skin an hour a day. It was then that they were all introduced into Jared’s life.

“Fuck!” Misha jumped to his feet. He had no idea on how they were going to stop Jared from combusting. They were all his friends, they came to like him, even loved him, but the moment he found out why they were really there, he would shut them all out.

Misha picked up Jared’s notes. It was all hand written, but Jared had to have used a computer to get access to this information. It seemed like Jared stumbled onto something dangerous. Not everything made sense, but Misha was sure that the notes in his hands were the reason why Jared’s house was burglarized. Why Briana lost her life. He had a feeling it was only the beginning. There was definitely something he was missing, but one thing was clear. Until those behind these attacks were stopped, Jared’s life was in danger. He had to talk to Jared, together with Jensen and Jeffrey. He had no idea what Jared might have stumbled upon, but it was bad enough that they wanted Jared dead. Misha wasn’t going to allow that. He knew for a fact that neither Jensen or Jeffrey would allow that.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared refused to look up even as two shadows fell over him. He remained staring at the dark waters of the lake. He didn’t want to see them or talk to them and if that made him childish then so be it. He managed to resist the urge when Jensen’s phone rang and he cursed before he answered it as he walked off. Jared snorted. Clearly it was something not meant for his ears. He picked up a stone and hurled it into the water. It created a splash before it disappeared into the blackness.

“Even after all these years you still can’t get it to dance on top of the water.” Jeffrey spoke up.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Jared pulled his legs to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.

“Well then, give me a chance to explain.” Jeffrey folded himself into some sort of lotus position as he took his seat next to Jared. 

Jared huffed, but remained silent.

Jeffrey took that as a win. He looked up to where Jensen still stood next to them. His friend stared out across the water. He knew that Jensen was in a more difficult position than himself. He took an oath, one that he can’t break easily, even if he wanted to with everything inside of him. It could also cost him more than his career, it could cost him his life. Jeffrey shifted his gaze to the young man on his other side. Jared had a frown on his face, but other than that his face was deprived of any emotions. This was bad. On any other day it was easy to read Jared’s mood by just looking at him. Jeffrey opened his mouth, but then Jared spoke up.

“You lied to me. You knew my dad. You knew him and you never told me. Fuck, Jeffrey, I trusted you and you never, not once said something.” Jared took a deep breath. “I told you everything. You know why I hate my birthday. We fucking slept together, more important, we fucked, and all that time you knew my dad. You were in the car with him. You were there when he died!” Jared leaped to his feet. Angry tears streaked his face. “You’re a fucking prick.” Without another word, he stormed off.

“Fuck,” Jeffrey came to his feet. “Jared!” He called out and stared to follow the younger man, but a hand on his arm brought him to a halt.

“Let me talk to him.”

Jeffrey sighed. “What about your career?”

Jensen smiled. “Think it’s time for a change of scenery in any case.” He looked as Jared stopped at an old dried out tree stump. “I’ve got this amazing friend which I would like to spend more time with. One that I need to stop lying to.” He pushed his hands into his pockets. “Now seems like a good time to do just that.”

With a nod of the head Jeffrey stood back. “I’ll stay here. Make sure the coast stays clear.”

“Thank you.” Jensen slapped the older man on the shoulder and then made his way to where Jared sat.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Undisclosed location: Washington D.C.**

“What do you mean you couldn’t find it? I’m not even going to ask about why the fuck Xavier is dead. I just hope that you made sure when you hired him that he can’t be traced back to us.” Mark Sheppard leaned back in his chair. He looked relaxed, but was on the brink of erupting with rage.

“I told you, he won’t be traced back to you. You know I’m not stupid.”

“And yet, here you stand before me empty handed. It was not a difficult task to complete. All that you had to do was to get in. Find the fucking thing, get out and bring it here. Did you do anything of that? No, you did not. You’re useless.” He hissed as he got to his feet and closed the distance between them. He invaded her personal space standing right in front of her. “Get what I want. Don’t make a mistake and be sure that if you fail again, you _will_ stop breathing as well.”

“How dare you threaten me in this manner? I’m not one of your lackeys. I’m a respected agent. If you’d allowed me to do things my way, this wouldn’t have happened.” Alona Beaver stood her ground.

Mark Sheppard burst out laughing, he stepped back and slapped her across the face so that she stumbled backwards. “You should rethink your status, girl. _You_ , answer to me and _you_ will do as I say. Your opinion doesn’t count.” A smirk appeared on his face. “Let me make it simple for you. Bring back what I want and your lovely mother and father will not be hurt. If you don’t, well then, I will take them and I will tear them apart limb from limb while you watch and I will make sure that with every lasting second of agony they go through, they know it’s because of you that they are suffering.”

Alona wanted to respond. It was clear that her so called boss didn’t know much of her family history. If he did, he would’ve known that killing her parents wouldn’t make her shiver in her boots. She opened her mouth when a voice spoke up from behind her. She turned around and tried not to cringe.

“Can I watch?” A blond strutted into the room. He was dressed in high boots, tight leather pants with a bare chest. He held a bottle of wine in his hand from which he took a big gulp. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Always,” Mark grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him to his side. He leaned in and kissed him hard. Both men fought for dominance until they were both out of breath and broke apart.

“You still here?” It was the newcomer that spoke up.

Alona quickly shook her head and moved away. She loathed Sheppard, but she was terrified of Pellegrino. He was a narcissist and a sadist. To her, he was the devil himself. She left the study and growled as one of the guards smirked at her. She was better than any of them, but just because she was a woman they looked down on her. She would show them. She would get what Sheppard wants, but she would go further than that. She had all her ducks in a row and no one would stand in her way. Not even the ex-vice president of the country.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Padalecki Residence: 00:10 following morning**

Jared wanted to roll his eyes when Jensen held him back while Jeffrey and Misha entered the house first, but he was exhausted. He couldn’t think clearly, and was unsure on how he remained on his feet. He looked bleary eyed at Jensen when the other man spoke up.

“Let’s go in.” Jensen stepped closer to Jared and guided him inside the house. Since he told Jared, the younger man hadn’t said a word. Jensen knew Jared was still processing what he told him. The questions would come later. That was also one of the main reasons why he made JD and Misha come with them as well.

Jared moved into the house and looked around. Jensen told him about the break in, and even though someone cleaned up, he could still see the difference. There was not one photo on the sideboard. The TV cabinet stood empty and he could see a long tear in the living room’s curtain. “What did they take?” His voice sounded hoarse.

Jeff first looked at Jensen before he responded. “We’re not sure. You and Jensen need to go through the house to see if there’s anything missing.”

Jared merely nodded. He noticed the brand new loose rug in the hallway. Jensen told him that Jeffrey had shot someone. That was also how he managed to break is arm. Everything still felt surreal. “Does it need to be now?”

“It can wait until later today.” Misha responded first. He knew that both Jensen and Jeffrey would’ve wanted to know immediately, but if they pushed Jared any further tonight, he might just crack. He didn’t want his friend to end up like Humpty Dumpty.

“Good, then I’m heading to bed.” Jared turned and headed for the stairs.

“Jared,” Jeffrey stepped closer but stopped when Jared turned around.

“Good night.” Jared looked at the three men he thought to be his friends and shook his head. Without a word further, he climbed the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Seconds later he stepped into his room and shut the door behind him. He looked at the lock and turned the key. He knew none of them would enter his room without his permission, but tonight he wanted to be alone.

Jared shed his clothes and made his way into the on suite. He turned the water on in the shower and as the bathroom steamed up he got in and leaned his head against the wall. His shoulders sagged as the tension of the day drained away. Jared kept his head free of any thoughts as he quickly washed himself. A thick towel got rid of the excess water and he tied it around his waist. In the bedroom he pulled the covers back and got rid of the towel. The sheets were cool against his skin and he closed his eyes. Only then did he let the happenings of the afternoon back into his mind.

_Jensen joined him on the old tree stump, he tried to ignore his best friend, but at the same time he wanted to know why? Jensen didn’t talk, but just sat next to him, staring at the water in the same way he did. Finally, Jensen spoke up._

_“Just after I came back from my last stint in Afghanistan, I was approached by a scruffy looking man on a Harley. He had a bad limp and it smelled as if he hadn’t seen water in almost a month. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but he didn’t give me a chance. Instead, he made me an offer and I couldn’t refuse.”_

_At that stage Jensen got up and moved to the edge of the water. He stood with his back to Jared for what felt like a long time. When he spoke up again, Jared had to strain his ears to hear all of the words._

_“He told me about a man who wanted to offer me a position, while at the same time still giving me the freedom to do my own thing. I wasn’t interested, but for one or other reason I kept on listening. He told me about a job where I would be called the President’s Man. He told me what it entailed and told me how they went about recruiting me and why he was there. I didn’t want to believe him, except that he had the CMC on his speed dial and the President’ personal number as well. I couldn’t say no and he became my mentor. He told me why he was no longer in the field and we became friends.”_

_Jensen walked back and sat down. He turned to Jared. “He told me about his best friend and how he got that limp. He told me about a young man whom he felt he had let down in more than one way and what he was doing to help him. He introduced me to Misha as the doc who would patch me up and then he introduced me to you.” Jensen took a deep breath. “I took an oath. I swore loyalty to my CinC and to no one else. I was sworn to secrecy and was told that under no circumstance may I ever tell anyone what I really did for a living. I never did, until now.”_

_Jensen had told him that they saw him as their friend, that he was important to them and that they loved him. That he loved him. It was something else that rattled Jared even more. He didn’t think Jensen was interested in him, but it seemed like he might have been wrong. There was only one problem – Jensen’s timing sucked._

Jared turned on his side. Sleep didn’t want to come, his brain refused to shut down. He’d thought he’d be able to work through everything Jensen told him, but it seemed that he was mistaken. He’d told Jensen that they would talk again in the morning. Jared made one thing clear. All of them had to leave him alone. He would talk to them when he was ready. Everything was just so confusing. Jared groaned out loud and knew he wouldn’t get any sleep. It would be better to get up and do some work. He reached for the jeans he’d pulled off before he stepped into the bathroom and pulled them on. The floor was cold and he shivered involuntarily. He had no idea where Jensen or any of the others were, but he couldn’t care. He still didn’t want to talk to them. Jared unlocked the door to his room and stepped out into the hallway. Jensen’s room was across from his and it was shrouded in darkness. He listened but couldn’t hear any sound coming from the room, nor from any of the guest rooms. Jared made his way down the stairs. He found all three men seated around the large dining room table. He wanted to growl at them, but they all looked like hell and he ignored them as he made his way into the kitchen to get something to drink. He would have to use his dad’s study to work as he didn’t want to share a table with them.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jensen looked up as he heard Jared’s door open. He listened carefully and looked on as Jared made his way down the stairs. Of course, he was not wearing a shirt and Jensen had to mentally slap himself not to stare. He wanted to speak up but the look on Jared’s face told him it wouldn’t be a good idea. He looked on as Jared disappeared into the kitchen and then he got to his feet.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Misha spoke up quietly.

“I know, but you can tell me you told me so later.” Jensen left the table and made his way to the kitchen. It wasn’t strange to see it still dark. Jared always seemed to know exactly where what was in the dark. He could barely make out Jared’s figure in the dimmed room, but what he did see turned him cold.

“JARED! GET DOWN!” Jensen yelled as he ran forward at full speed. He had to get Jared down before that little red dot on Jared’s back became a gaping hole. Things really slowed down as he saw Jared turn to face him, while he heard chairs tumbling behind him. He reached out, his hand grabbing Jared’s bicep and yanked him hard to the left. At the same time the first shot echoed through the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Deep Creek Lake – Summer cabin: 18 hours later**

“How’s he looking?” Jeff turned back where Jared was propped up against Jensen with Misha on his other side.

“Running a fever, but at least the bleeding has stopped for now.” Misha reported gruffly. His hands still tainted pink even after they’d stopped and he had an opportunity to wash them.

“We all know a through-and-through bleeds a lot.” JD switched the car off but made no attempt to get out. They’d stopped about a quarter of a mile from their destination.

“Yes, but he’s not supposed to experience that, Jeffrey.” Misha snapped. He looked at Jensen. “I thought you would’ve said something about that.”

Jensen closed his eyes and sighed. “He could’ve died.” The hard slap at the back of his head sounded through the car. “What the fuck, Misha?” Jensen rubbed his head.

“I, we, don’t have time for your self-pity, Jensen. You’ve managed to push him off balance enough for the bullet to go through his shoulder instead of through his head, so please, don’t go there.” Misha nearly growled. He looked at JD. “Are we going in or are you planning in letting us stay out here the whole time?”

“Don’t push me, Collins.” Jeffrey took out his pistol and checked the magazine. They only had two hand weapons between the three of them and if it wasn’t for the fact that they had found a pharmacy open and could get some emergency supplies he didn’t know what their situation would’ve been. He looked at Jensen using the rearview mirror. “Back or front?”

“Back,” Jensen replied as he checked their second weapon. “Misha, you need to get into the driver’s seat. At the first sign of any trouble, get him out of here. See if you can get hold of Kim once you’re sure you’re safe, but only then.

“I’ll do that.” Misha looked at his two friends. “Be safe.” He looked on as Jensen placed a kiss on the top of Jared’s head before he gently moved out from behind their drugged-up friend. Misha waited for both men to disappear before he got out and took his place behind the wheel. His fingers drummed against the wheel as he waited for some sort of signal, either to go to the cabin or to flee.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jensen moved slowly through the dense underbrush. He made certain of his foot placing as not to give his position away. He kept an eye on the property as he moved closer to the cabin. If the situation wasn’t so severe he would’ve smiled at the word _cabin_. The wooden house consisted out of three stories, had five bedrooms and five bathrooms. Unfortunately, he had little information about the rest of the place. According to JD, Ian had won it in a poker game soon after he started working as the President’s man. It had belonged to one or other high society friend of the President, although Jeffrey refused to say who. Jensen was still unsure on how Ian got involved in such a high stakes game if that was the winnings on offer. Jeffrey said Ian always told him how much Jared loved the place, but after his dad died, Jared never mentioned it. The only reason why they knew about it, was because Jim and his wife Samantha stayed here and they’d all heard Jared talking to them about the house. Due to the fact that it seemed like no one else knew about it, they thought it would be better to come here and lay low. Jeffrey had tried to contact the couple, but without success and that placed them all on alert. He could only hope that the couple who helped raise Jared was all right.

Jensen moved in behind a tree and scouted the place out. The large bay windows gave him the opportunity to look into most of the rooms on the lower floor. All the rooms he could see were deprived of life.

Sudden movement to his left had him spun around and he managed to bring up his arm just in time to block the butt of a rifle connecting with his head. He grabbed hold of the rifle, jerked it hard and, as his attacker stumbled, he head butted him hard. The man let go of the rifle (a rookie mistake) and it gave Jensen the opportunity to move into his space where he took the man down with ease. Jensen secured the assault rifle and then checked the unconscious man for any form of identity. He wasn’t surprised when he found nothing. He removed the man’s boots, socks and trousers. He was grateful that his attacker didn’t go commando, as something like that had happened before and on more than one occasion as well. He used the shoelaces to tie the attacker’s hands and feet. The one sock he pushed into the man’s mouth and the other he wrapped around the man’s head as an extra gag. The trousers he ripped apart and used it to hog tie the man further. He made sure to take the man’s cell phone, hand radio and extra ammunition for the assault rifle with him. Jensen checked the area again before he moved closer to the house.

He found another surprise near the back door. The man lurked in the bushes, but he didn’t see Jensen and it was easy to take him out. He tied him up with his own clothing as well and rolled him underneath a bush. Finally, he could make his way to the back door. The kitchen had a large window and he took a quick peek. It all looked quiet, except for the man and woman that was seated on two straight back chairs facing the other direction. They were both bound to the chairs. He could even see that gags tied around their heads. What surprised him was the guard that paced up and down before them – it was someone he never expected.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Alona dared not to look in the direction of her parents. She could see the questions in their eyes and she didn’t want to explain. There was nothing to explain. She was doing what was expected from her and it had nothing to do with them.

“Stop squirming, Samantha.” Alona snapped as she turned to face the woman who gave birth to her. She didn’t see her as her mother anymore. At this stage she was a means to an end. “I’ve not tied you up that tight, so don’t try and nag about it. And stop looking at me in that way! I’m doing my job.” She huffed and moved away. When she first thought about this plan she didn’t think it would work, but her employer provided her with enough information to know that the plan would work perfectly. The only thing that she needed to do was to be patient. She would complete this task with success and would finally rid herself of the one person she hated with every breath in her body – Jared Padalecki. It was his fault that her parents turned on her. He took away everything she had. He deserved to die and she would be more than happy to take his life without even blinking an eye.

She made a wide turn and came back to stand at the back of the chair. Alona casually placed the barrel of the Glock against the back of her father’s head. “Come out or I blow his brains out. And don’t think I won’t.” She kept her gaze on the kitchen, but no one came out.

“You asked for it,” Alona called out as she pulled the trigger. Samantha screamed, the sounds muffled through the gag stuffed in her mouth. “Oh, shut up, Samantha, it’s only a flesh wound.” Jim was breathing heavily through his gag, she could see how he bit down on the gag not to scream. The man was always so stoic. It made her sick. She had moved the weapon before firing and shot Jim through the upper shoulder. She had to wipe her hands on her jeans as the blood spatter landed on her. “Next time he won’t be so lucky. Come out.” Alona lifted the Glock and kept it at head height. “Make sure your hands are raised. Don’t try any funny business.”

Alona smirked as the man came into her sight. “Well, well, if it isn’t pretty boy himself. How are you Jensen?” She stepped away from the chairs and moved to face the newcomer head on. “Did you bring Jared? God, I hope you did.” She snorted. “Stupid question, I know. I mean, what’s the chance of you actually leaving him somewhere and just be on your own. He’s worse than a fucking puppy. Or maybe it’s you.” She shrugged. “It really doesn’t matter.” She placed pressure on the trigger. “Call him in, I want him here.”

“What have you gotten yourself into, Alona?” Jensen kept his hands raised as he asked the question. She didn’t ask for his weapon and until she did, he wasn’t prepared to part with it.

“Don’t sound so condescending. I’m doing my job.” She hissed the words and took a step closer to him.

“I’m not being condescending, Alona, but I don’t understand what you are doing.” He had to get her to talk, he needed to give JD as much time as possible to get into the house. He took a quick look at Samantha and Jim. Samantha looked shell shocked, her breathing very shallow and he had a feeling that she might pass out soon if she didn’t get her breathing under control. Jim was ash gray. A large red spot decorated his left shoulder from where his own daughter shot him. “Your parents haven’t done anything, why don’t you untie them and let them go?”

Alona shook her head. “NO! They will not go anywhere. They will hear what I have to say and they will see what that fucked up Jared really is. They will see that I did nothing wrong. They will beg me for forgiveness.”

“And shooting your own father?” Jensen saw movement behind her, but made sure he gave no indication that Jeff was in the house. Luckily, neither Jim nor Samantha had seen the movement.

“That’s _your_ fault. If you came out when I told you to, it wouldn’t have been necessary for me to shoot him. You made me do it.” She turned her head to her father. “It was his fault, Daddy. I didn’t want to.” Alona started laughing and shrugged. Her eyes grew cold as she turned back to Jensen. “Or maybe, I did.”

Jensen ignored her comments. “Why do you assume Jared’s with me? I only came to check in on Jim and Samantha. I do it once in a while.” It was a lie, but he had to place her under the assumption that he was used to coming out here.

Alona snorted and laughed out loud. “Because I planned it. Just because I’m blond, doesn’t make me stupid! He’s here, so let him come in or I will blow her brains out!” She swung around and a shot sounded through the house. A body fell and for a moment there was silence.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“Took you fucking long enough,” Jensen spoke up even as he walked towards Alona. She was on her side, her left shoulder tinted red. He kept his weapon on her as he kicked her weapon in Jeffrey’s direction before he turned her over on her stomach and took a better look at her shoulder. “She’ll live.” He looked down at Alona. “Stay. If you move I can promise you the next shot will not be through your shoulder.” Jensen ignored her pain filled cries.

“That was the point,” Jeffrey commented as he reached Jim’s side. The man was barely conscious, but the shoulder wound didn’t look too bad.

Jensen looked on as Samantha sobbed, he could see how her shoulders slumped and he had to feel sorry for her. Alona was still her daughter and it must be heart wrenching to see your own daughter getting shot right in front of you. Fortunately, she wasn’t his daughter so he couldn’t care and the fact that she shot her own father made it even worse in his eyes. He looked up as Jeffrey stepped up to Samantha and removed the gag. The older woman sobbed hard. “Keep an eye on her, I need to get something to stem the blood and to tie her up.” Jensen moved away from the group.

“Towels, plenty of towels,” Jeffrey commented as he left Samantha tied to the chair for now. He kept his pistol pointed at Alona. He wasn’t taking any chances.

“Got it,” Jensen responded from where he entered the guest bathroom off to the side. He made a turn in the kitchen and grinned when he found a bunch of cable ties and duct tape. They would do the job perfectly. He headed back to the dining room and pulled Alona to her feet. Jensen placed her on one of the high back chairs and tied her ankles together before tying them to the chair. He pulled her hands in front of her and ignored the groan as her shoulder pulled. He tied them with a cable tie and then took one of the folded towels and pressed it over the gaping wound. One handedly, he managed to strap the towel into place with the duct tape. Jensen looked up and found her staring at him. Her eyes were black and he could see the hate in them. “In any other circumstances, I would’ve asked why, but not here. You’re a crazy fucking bitch, and nothing more.” He didn’t look back as he made his way over to where Jeffrey had untied Samantha and the older woman was on her knees next to her husband.

“Are you all right, Sam?” He asked the older woman kindly as he placed his arm across her shoulder. He’d met them a few times when they came to visit Jared and found the couple doting on Jared at every opportunity they got. They both looked on as Jeffrey bandaged Jim’s arm with practiced ease.

“She shot him.” Samantha’s voice trembled as she brought her hand to her face. She stopped when she noticed the blood on her hands. Jim’s blood. Samantha lowered her hand. “She shot her own father.”

Jim opened his eyes and found his wife’s gaze. “It will be all right.” He squeezed her hand and grimaced as Jeff jolted his arm. “Fuck.”

“Sorry,” Jeff apologized. He stood back. His own hands were tinted red. “Misha is in the car with Jared, as soon as we’re sure it’s safe, we’ll get them inside and then he can have a proper look.” He looked at the man and woman. “Do you know how many men Alona brought with her?” He personally took out two, but he still had no idea on how many Jensen took out and if there were any more lurking around.

Samantha shook her head. “Four,” Jim answered. “I greeted them at the door when they stopped here.” There was a note of sadness in his voice.

“I took care of two,” Jensen spoke up next to them and Jeffrey nodded.

“Good, then we’re in the clear.” Jeffrey came to his feet. “We need to bring them all together and secure them.”

“Agreed, let’s do that first before we contact Misha.” Jensen was not taking chances. He halted when Samantha grabbed his arm.

“What is going on, Jensen?”

“We’ll explain shortly.” He handed her his Glock. “I know this is going to be difficult, but I need you to keep an eye on Alona until we get back. Will you be able to do that?”

Samantha took the pistol and squared her shoulders. “It’s not going to be easy, but few things in life are.” She nodded her head. “Go, do what you need to do and then come and explain to me what the hell is going on.”

“I promise.” Jensen squeezed her shoulder once before he joined Jeffrey at the front door. It was time that they got Jared into the house.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared groaned and fought hard to open his eyes. He squinted in the bright light but finally managed to focus. He found Misha staring at him. “You fucking drugged me.” He reached out to touch his shoulder.

“Touch that and I’ll do more than just drug your ass.” Misha grumbled. He took a critical look at his friend. “How are you feeling?”

Jared groaned again and swallowed hard. “Sore, thirsty.” He looked around and managed to get himself in an upright position. He frowned. “We’re at the cabin?” Jared shook his head. “No, I don’t know whose plan it was to bring us here, but we’re leaving. We’re not staying here.”

“And just where else should we have gone to, Jared?” Misha inquired as he kept looking around, making sure that no one caught them by surprise.

“Maybe to the fucking sheriff, I mean, that’s the reason why there is something like law enforcement in every town.”

“Someone tried to take you out, Jared, by sending multiple bad guys to your home. Not only to shoot you, but to shoot everything and anything that moved in that house. Did you think for one moment they would’ve stopped if we went to the sheriff’s office? Or did you think Kim and old Sheriff Parkins could’ve handled them better than what we could?” Misha shook his head. “No, Jared. We did the only thing we could do and that was to get the hell out of there and get you to safety.”

“And what about Jim and Samantha? What about their safety? And what makes you capable of keeping me safe? You are a doctor, slash shrink, JD is a bartender and Jensen is a model.” Jared snorted. It sounded like the beginning of a bad joke. He also wasn’t going to back down.

“And yet by now, you know we’re more than that, Jared.” Misha tried not to growl. He wanted to speak up again when his phone rang and he answered it quickly. He kept the conversation short. “Jeffrey and Jensen are on their way back. The cabin is secured.”

Jared reached for the door handle. “We’ll I’m not going to the cabin.” He tried to open the door, but it remained shut. “Let me out, Misha.” Jared hissed in anger.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Misha became angry as well, his voice raised in volume.

“And you can’t stop me.” Jared practically shouted and shoved his shoulder into the door in an attempt to force it open. He screamed out in pain and doubled over as the pain became a burning flame from within. Jared was aware that he continued screaming, and didn’t even notice that the door next to him opened. It didn’t matter anymore, he only wanted the intense pain to stop.

Misha cursed and flung open his own door as he released the central locking and leaped out of the car. He pulled the door open and had to act quick as Jared nearly tumbled out of the car and onto the ground. Jared was no longer screaming, but he was whimpering in pain and trembled from head to toe. “Easy, I’ve got you. Easy.” Misha used his best soothing voice as he managed to push Jared back into the car, letting him come to rest against the back seat. Jared clutched his shoulder and Misha was alarmed to see the blood seeping through Jared’s fingers.

Footsteps behind him made him jump around, the throwing knife he still held in his hand pointed towards the possible threat. “Fuck it, Jensen,” Misha yelled as he lowered the weapon. “Jared reinjured himself. Get your ass into the driver’s seat and get us to the cabin.” Misha didn’t wait for a reply, but jogged around the car to get in on the other side. “Move it,” he called out again and then ducked into the back seat. He wasn’t surprised when the front passenger door opened and Jeff got in as well. He ignored the two men as he started checking Jared’s vitals. He didn’t dare removing the bandages now. He had to wait until he had more space to work with.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“What the fuck?” Jensen asked as he started the car and steered it towards the cabin. He received no answer, but could hear Misha’s mutterings and Jared’s whimpering. “Misha!”

“Fucking drive, Ackles.” Misha snarled. “I’ll tell you later, just get us to the cabin so that I can see what damage this idiot do to his wound.”

“Is he going to be all right?” Jensen could hear the worry in his own voice even as he spoke out loud.

Misha sighed. “He’ll be all right. You know him, Jensen. He always lands on his feet. He will be a bit dented for a while, but I’m confident that he will recover completely.”

Jensen didn’t respond and brought the vehicle to a stop right in front of the cabin. He and JD got out of the car immediately and together they helped Jared out of the backseat. The moment Jared’s feet touched the ground, his knees buckled and his eyes rolled over, rendering him unconscious. Without missing a beat, Jensen scooped him up. “You really need to put on weight.” He didn’t stop to wait for the others, but made his way to the front door.

He nodded his thanks as Jeff opened the door and he slipped inside. He was aware of Samantha’s shocked gasp and heard Alona yelling something, but it didn’t register what she shouted. He carried Jared deeper into the house and placed him down on the bed. When he looked around, he realized it had to be Jared’s old room. Jensen remained silent as Misha moved past him and started attending Jared’s shoulder.

“What do you need?” Jensen managed to find his voice.

“Water to clean this out and a first aid kit. There must be one here somewhere. Ask Samantha.” Misha started removing the bloodied bandages from Jared’s shoulder. He was grateful for the fact that when Jared got shot, he was bare chested and that they didn’t need to dress Jared up, leaving his chest naked with only the bandages covering the injury.

“You need to check on Jim and Alona as well.” JD spoke up from the door as Jensen exited the room to go and find a first aid kit.

“GSW to the shoulder first.” Misha responded without taking his eyes of Jared.

“Both of them got gunshot wounds to the shoulder.” Jeffrey stated it as a mere fact.

Misha’s head snapped up at the news. “I don’t want to know. Is the bleeding under control?”

“It was before we left.”

“Then check on it and let me know immediately if it isn’t the case. I don’t want one of them bleeding to death.” Misha focused his attention back on Jared. Jeffrey exited the room but mumbled under his breath and Misha frowned. He could’ve sworn that JD said something about it not necessarily being a bad thing if Alona bled out. Misha shook his head. He must’ve heard wrong.

Jensen hurried in and Misha sighed in relief. Jensen placed an electric kettle within his reach, the steam still escaping from the spout. He hurried away and returned with a deep bowl with what Misha assumed to be cold water and several rags. Jensen disappeared again as Misha washed his hands and dried them off. When Jensen appeared again, he had in his hand what looked like a proper first aid kit, although a bit dusty. He indicated to Jensen to open it up as he didn’t want to get his hands dirty again.

“Looks good.” Misha was impressed. There were more than enough bandages in the kit and he could see a few suture packs as well. There was no medication in the kit, but even if there were, it would’ve been outdated in any case. Luckily, when they stopped at the pharmacy, he’d managed to get some heavy-duty pain killers by producing his license. The pharmacist behind the counter didn’t look too impressed, but since the license was valid, he couldn’t argue. At least at that stage, Misha’s hands were still relatively clean from Jared’s blood.

“Need help?”

“Open up the gauze pads, the pressure bandage and one of the medium sterile gauze pads. I also need a suture pack opened since he managed to tear out some of the stitches.” Misha appreciated the efficiency Jensen used to open the required items. “It doesn’t look too bad. The damaged he caused with that stunt is more of a deep tissue bruising. He’ll have to wear a sling for at least the next four to six weeks. As soon as he’s awake, I’ll place one on.” Misha used a clean cloth to wipe the blood away from Jared’s shoulder before he quickly re-stitched the wound and then covered it up before finally binding it with the pressure bandage. “I’ll fetch the pain medication from the car and give him something. It will make him sleepy, but it will also give his body the time it needs to recover.”

“What happened?” Jensen asked for the first time since he returned to the car and found Jared in agony.

Misha sighed and explained what transpired before Jensen and Jeff arrived at the vehicle.

“Fuck,” Jensen rubbed his hand over his face. “He’s not going to like what’s going on here.”

“Do I want to know?” Misha checked Jared’s pulse again and then straightened out. “Let me go and check on Alona and Jim. What the fuck happened? How did they get shot? I thought Alona didn’t talk to Jim and Samantha.”

It was Jensen’s turn to sigh. “Let’s go out to the living room and I’ll fill you in.” Jensen took a final look at Jared before he exited the room with Misha. He knew Misha was going to flip out, but Jared’s reaction was going to be even worse. He was not looking forward to explain to his best friend that the person behind the attempt on his life was the girl he grew up with. Jensen also had a feeling that they were missing a large piece of the puzzle and that made him nervous as hell.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Misha wanted to roll his eyes as Alona hissed at him again as he cleaned her shoulder. He looked at her, his face deprived of any emotion. “You can stop hissing at me, I’m not impressed.” He took out the suture kit and threaded the needle with little effort. “Unless you want this to scar unnecessarily I would suggest that you keep still.”

“I don’t need your help,” she sneered and tried to pull away. She couldn’t help but to yelp in pain as Misha grabbed her arm and held her steady.

“It’s on days like this that I hate the oath that I took to do no harm.” He guided the needle through the skin and started sewing the wound close. He still couldn’t believe what Jensen told him, and he tried his best to keep the conversation from running around in his head as he concentrated on the task before him. He quickly finished up his handy work and then using one of the sterile gauze pads he covered it up. Misha sat back. “Keep it dry for at least forty-eight hours.”

Alona didn’t reply but stared at the high-beamed ceiling.

Misha came to his feet. “If you would’ve asked, I would’ve told you, that your father would be all right.”

“I don’t care,” Alona sneered.

“I know, and it’s a pity, because when I stitched Jim up, the only thing he wanted to know was if his daughter would be all right.” Misha shook his head and moved away. He had to check on Jared again.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Cabin: 4 hours later**

Jensen moved back into the living area of the house where Samantha and Jim were seated on the large sofa. Their heads were bowed together and he could hear them whispering softly to one another. He caught Jeffrey’s attention and beckoned him to the kitchen.

“Everything all right?” Jeffrey asked as he took a seat on one of the high chairs.

“Our _guests_ are not talking. I have a feeling that they don’t know much.” Jensen sighed. Until they knew who was behind the attacks on Jared and what they were after, they’d decided not to let anyone know where they were. That included not calling for help, even if they had three people with gunshot wounds to the shoulders. It was something that both Jim and Samantha struggled to understand. Alona had ripped the landline out of the wall and smashed both her parents’ cell phones. The only phones they had was the extra one Misha always kept in his car’s cubbyhole and Jeff’s. Luckily, both were fully charged.

“Alona knows.”

Jensen nodded. She was definitely the ringleader of this pack. He looked up and shook his head. “No.”

“Why? Because she’s a woman? Well, I’ve got news for you, Jensen. She’s one of the bad guys here and she has the information we’re looking for. Asking her for it is not going to work.”

“And torturing her, will?” Jensen jumped to his feet, the chair behind him tumbling to the floor. He heard Samantha yelped and he quickly put up a hand. “Sorry.” He placed the chair upright and faced that man he saw as his mentor. “She’s a US citizen.”

“And a possible threat to the security of our country.” Jeffrey sighed. “Listen, I know you don’t want to do this, but she wants something from Jared and she’s not going to tell us. It has to do with Ian and Ian held the same position you’re holding. Both of you had sworn an oath to keep the President of this country safe and to keep the people of this country safe. The fact that she’s looking for something that Ian was involved with, tells me this is of the utmost importance and that we need to find out what it is.”

“We’re speculating that this is about Ian, Jeffrey. We heard rumors about his codename and that’s that. We don’t know if the two things are connected with one another.”

Jeffrey shook his head. “You’re not thinking rationally about this.” He dragged a hand over his face. “She told you in this very same kitchen that she was doing her job. She told you she planned all of this and she knew you would bring Jared here. She knew all of us would come here. She knows what we are, Jensen, she’s not clueless. She’s part of the puzzle and we need to sort it out before it’s too late. You’ve got two choices. One, you can come with me when I question her, or you can stay here and I’ll do it alone. We need answers, and she’s the only one here that’s got them.”

“I think Jared knows something as well,” Misha spoke up from behind them.

“What do you mean?”

Misha took out the notes he had of Jared. “Our boy genius managed to get some unsupervised computer time in by the look of these.” He handed the notes to Jeffrey. “It’s all hand written, but the information on there cannot be found in any book, but only from a supposedly secure server or two.”

“What?” Jensen grabbed the notes from Jeffrey and skimmed them quickly. “Fuck,” he handed them over to Jeffrey, who cursed as he scanned it himself. 

“I thought he’d let it go.” Jeffrey needed a drink. “For so long he has been obsessed with Ian’s death. To him, his dad was the best driver out there and he wouldn’t believe anyone who told him it was human error that caused the accident. When we were still together, he would tell me how good his dad was, that he knew that there had to be something wrong with the car. Not once, could I tell him that I was there, but, that I couldn’t remember. The official report indicated that Ian was alone in the vehicle when it went over the cliff. That alone should’ve made me think harder about it.”

“With that report there, it is clear that your accident was no accident.” Misha closed his eyes. “But we still don’t know who buried it and why?”

Jensen picked up the notes again and looked at something Jared had scribbled in the margin. “Why does the letters _KoH_ sound so familiar?”

Both Misha and Jeffrey shook their heads. “I’ve seen it before, I thought it was just the latest doodle he made.” Misha responded.

“We’re missing something.” Jensen paced the room. “You’re right,” he turned to Jeffrey. “We need to talk to Alona and by talk, I mean talk. Nothing more.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then we’ll do it your way.” Jensen looked down at the notes in his hands again. The letters _KoH_ still stared at him as if it was mocking him.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Cabin: 12 hours later**

Jensen looked down at his bloodied hands and quickly wiped them off against his dark jeans. He didn’t look back at the motionless figure on the chair behind him. Alona was still breathing and she would live, but it took them longer than what he thought it would, but between him and Jeffrey she finally broke. He now also knew what _KoH_ stood for. This whole thing went higher up than what they initially thought. Jensen looked up as the basement door opened and footsteps hurried down. He looked away as Misha cursed and brushed past him. “It was necessary.”

“And it still doesn’t mean that I like it.” Misha sighed. “Get out of here, go and wash up. Jared’s been asking for you. I’ll treat her wounds.”

“Thank you.” Jensen started up the stairs but then stopped. “Don’t untie her, Misha. Treat her as she is.” The only response he got was a grunt and accepting that as his answer he made his way out of the basement. He met Jeffrey at the top.

“I found it, but I don’t think it’s one of them.” He indicated to a wooden frame covered with a glass sheet that now took up half of the kitchen counter.

“We’ll ask Jared.” Jensen moved towards the kitchen sink to wash his hands. He didn’t want Jim or Samantha to see the blood on his hands. It was bad enough that they would’ve heard their daughter scream.

“Are you going to tell him what we know?” Jeffrey held Jensen’s arm as he tried to move past.

“What? Did you want me to treat him as a terrorist as well?”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Jeffrey let go of Jensen’s arm. “You know this is going to get ugly before it gets better.”

“If what we found out is the truth and with the people involved then yes, you’re right. It is going to get ugly, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep him out of this.”

“And the rest of us will do the same, Jensen. We all love that boy.”

Jensen nodded. “I know.” He took a deep breath. “Let me talk to him and let’s find what we’re looking for and I do hope it’s here and not back at the house, because then we are all screwed.”

“I know you wanted to talk to him alone, but Jim and Samantha needs to hear this as well. I think it would be best if you told them all at once.”

Jensen wanted to shake his head, but Jeffrey was correct. Alona’s admissions had just as much to do with Jim and Samantha than what it had to do with Jared. He could only hope that the couple would be able to cope with what he had to tell them.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

Jared leaned back against the mountain of pillows behind his head and back that kept the pain from becoming excruciating. He looked on as a knock sounded at the door and it opened up. He managed to give a small smile as Jensen’s face appeared through the crack.

“How are you feeling?” Jensen asked as he moved in and gently lowered himself next to Jared on the bed without jolting him too much. Misha had talked to Jared earlier, their friend now understood that it was safer to sit here, than to try and move on.

“Is it over?” Jared asked instead of answering the question.

Jensen nodded.

“Do you do that often?”

“No. And I have never enjoyed it even if I had to do it.”

Jared looked down at the comforter that covered him up. “Why?”

Jensen cocked his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.”

Jared shook his head. “I don’t understand the question myself.” He looked up. “I don’t know how to deal with this.”

“I’m sorry. I, we, never wanted you to deal with this.” Jensen pulled Jared closer to his side. “I need to tell Jim and Samantha as well. Would you mind if we do this one time? We also have a couple of questions for you and it might be that if you don’t know the answer then maybe Jim and Samantha would know it.”

Jared nodded his head, but as Jensen pulled away, he grabbed his arm. “Does it make me a bad person?” He swallowed. “I didn’t ask if she was still alive. Does it make me bad?”

Jensen shook his head. “No, Jared. It makes you human.” He squeezed his hand. “She’s alive. Misha is tending her wounds.”

Jared managed to nod and then let Jensen help him from the bed. It was time to get some answers. He wasn’t ready for them, but it didn’t mean he could play ostrich and just keep his head in the sand and ignore everything else.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

The sound of flesh against flesh vibrated through the house as Samantha slapped Jensen across the face. Before anyone could react, she burst into tears and Jensen gathered her against his chest. He whispered in her ear and after a while she calmed down and leaned back. Her eyes were filled with sorrow, but she gently cupped his face. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and then sat down next to Jim on the couch. Jim met Jensen’s gaze and nodded his head.

Jensen cleared his throat and looked at Jared before he spoke up. He looked directly at Jim and Samantha as he told them his – their story.

“After questioning, talking to Alona we found out who she works for.” Jensen looked at Jeff and when he nodded, Jensen continued. “She works for Mark Sheppard.”

“What? The ex-vice president?” Jim moved forward. “As what? How does my daughter even know the man? Why didn’t we know about it?”

“She met him eight years ago.” Jensen looked at Jared. “She was twenty-five, young, beautiful and ambitious. Knowing Sheppard for the man he is, I would say that he planned it. He played Alona’s weaknesses like a well-tuned fiddle.”

“But why her, why then? I don’t understand?” Samantha spoke up. “Are you saying she was forced to work for him?”

Jeffrey shook his head. “Do you remember what happened eight years ago?”

Jim shook his head and Samantha frowned. It was Jared who spoke up. “I was caught for hacking.”

“And it was always believed that you covered for someone else.” Jeffrey looked at Jared.

For a long time Jared looked at his feet. “It was the first time that Alona was nice to me. She even told me she liked me.” He shrugged. “I was eighteen years old, as high as a kite most of the time and she finally saw me as something except being the person who stole her parents.” He didn’t look up even as Samantha’s breath hitched. “She introduced me to her friends and they dared me to do stuff. I loved it. I loved the high it gave me. I was so angry at everything and everyone so I took them up on all of their dares. It was fun.”

“Then came the big dare.” Jeffrey spoke up again. He was seated on the edge of his chair.

Jared nodded. “Yes, but I couldn’t do it alone. I needed one person to help.”

“Alona,” Jensen spoke her name out loud.

Jared’s head jerked in agreement. “But I didn’t give up her name, I promise, I didn’t.”

“We know you didn’t. But, someone found out who the other hacker was. Sheppard found out who the hacker was. Alona became his.” Jeffrey was on his feet and paced the room. He turned to face the group gathered in the living room. He looked at Jensen and then at Jared. “Ian was going to resign at the end of the President’s term. There was something wrong, but he refused to tell me what. He told me it was for my own protection that he didn’t tell me. But, he also told me that I shouldn’t hesitate in taking the job if it was offered to me. At that stage I didn’t understand, but now it makes sense. Sheppard didn’t get the party vote to run for president. Ian knew that.”

Jensen shook his head. “We’re still missing something. Why would Sheppard worry about a hacker?”

“Because they got information that Sheppard didn’t want released.” Misha spoke up from the side. “Can you still remember what you hacked into, Jared?”

“No, no. It wasn’t about the info, it was about the rush of being able to do it. I couldn’t care less about the information.” He looked haggard. “I can remember it was a list of names, maybe something like a memorandum of a meeting of some sort. I don’t know.”

“But Sheppard didn’t know it. And that info has to link back to Ian’s death.” Jeffrey turned to Jensen. “We need to talk to Alona again.”

“No, no.” Samantha came to her feet. “Please, don’t hurt her, please.”

Jeffrey looked at Jensen. “What do you want to do?”

Jensen closed his eyes. “Sheppard wanted the key chain. That is what Alona had to get. We need that key chain. Jared, where’s the last key chain Ian gave to you?”

Jared frowned. “What? It’s the one we use for the front door.”

“You sure? The troll?”

“Of course I’m sure. Dad brought it from Norway. Folklore in Norway is huge on trolls.”

“No, but that’s not the last mission he went on. He went again after Norway.” Jeffrey came to a halt in front of Jared. “You didn’t get it?”

“No. I don’t even know where he was. I just got to hear where he died.” Jared managed to get to his feet.

“Jared,” Jeffrey called out, but the younger man just kept on walking. “Fuck.”

“I’ll go after him.” Misha also came to his feet.

“I think it’s here.” Jim slowly got to his feet. He held his injured arm close to his body. “After Ian’s death and Jared disappearing, we came here in the hope that he would come here. There was a parcel addressed to Jared. I put it in Ian’s study. It should still be there.”

“You never gave it to Jared?” Jensen asked in surprise.

Samantha shook her head. “When he finally resurfaced, he didn’t want anything to do with us, or the cabin. We tried to give it to him, but he kept on sending it back. That’s why it’s in the study. We hoped that Jared would come back here one day.”

“Here it is.” Jim held out the reasonable size box. “It’s much smaller than this. But we tried to put it in different size boxes to get Jared to take it, but he would always send it back. Sometimes UPS would send it back to us if he doesn’t sign for it or it went undelivered.”

Jensen took the packet and started taking the parcel apart. It felt like he was opening a Russian Nesting Doll. Finally, he ripped the last piece of brown paper off and stared at the key chain. It was a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. Fairly big for a standard key chain. Jensen turned it over and saw the clip at the bottom. He pressed it in and it slipped out. Inside was a memory card. “Bingo.”

Jeffrey took it from Jensen’s hand. “We need to see what’s on here.”

“Do you have a laptop here?” Jensen asked the couple and his shoulders slumped as they shook their heads.

“There’s an old laptop of Ian?” Samantha came to her feet. “I’m not sure if it’s still working.”

“We won’t know if we don’t look.” Jensen came to his own feet. “Is it in the study?” He’d walked through the house now on several times always alert and had a good idea on the layout by now.

Samantha nodded. “Yes, in the old filing cabinet to the side. Ian placed it there when he got the new one.”

“Let’s see.” Jensen led the way back to the study. When Jeffrey indicated with his finger that he was going to check on Alona and the other men, Jensen nodded his head. He found the laptop and sighed a sigh of relief when he found the charger in the drawer as well.

Jensen couldn’t help to be nervous as he switched the laptop on. Unfortunately, the moment it was on, it asked for a password and he groaned. It seemed like things were not going to be as easy as he thought. He needed Jared for this.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“Jared?” Misha asked as he knocked on the door and entered the room. Jared stood next to the window looking out at the lake. He took a seat on the side of Jared’s bed. Jared’s face was edged in pain and Misha wanted to kick himself. The last pain medication he gave to Jared was over six hours ago and he Jared would be in some serious pain by now. The fact that the younger man wouldn’t ask for anything made him want to curse, but it wouldn’t help. Instead, he came to his feet and quickly left the room. He didn’t think Jared even realized that he went out.

Misha found what he was looking for in the bathroom and took out two of the Ibuprofen for Jared from the blister pack and got water from the kitchen before he headed back to the room. He found Jared in the same spot. “Here, drink this.” He held the pills in his hand and pushed the water into Jared’s hand. “And I don’t want to hear any complaints. A gunshot wound hurts like hell, you don’t need to be stoic about it.”

Jared looked at the pills and then at his friend, but made no attempt to swallow them.

“They won’t bite and they will help. Drink them.” Misha arched his brow at Jared and managed to hit his smile when Jared rolled his eyes and swallowed the two pills. “Thank you.” He took his seat on the bed again. He didn’t have to wait long before Jared spoke up.

“Do you think it’s my fault?” Jared didn’t turn away from the window.

“I’m going to need more than that, Jared.”

Jared leaned with his head against the window pane. “Do you think it’s my fault that Alona…”

“Wow, stop right there.” Misha never interrupted any of his patience when he worked with them, more so his friend, but he couldn’t let Jared carry a blame that was not his. “Alona made her own decisions. Eight years ago, she was twenty-five and a grown woman. You did not wrong her in any way. It doesn’t matter what she says, you were not at fault. From what you told us now, was that she’s the one who influenced you. You were a mere eighteen, and at a vulnerable stage in your life. She took advantage of you. She’s the one who should be having a conscious attack, not you.”

“But…”

“No buts, Jared. She made her own bed, not you.” Misha joined his friend at the window.

“Are you angry with me?”

Misha immediately knew to what Jared was referring to and he shook his head. “Disappointed, but not angry. But I have a feeling you limited yourself quite well.”

“I did. I only wanted more information, Misha. I didn’t hack into anything else, I promise. I still don’t know what happened, but that accident report shows that it wasn’t human error that caused the accident. Not with two blown out tires and a broken steering column. The report stated it was cut through. It wasn’t my dad’s fault, he was murdered.” Jared closed his eyes. “I wanted to tell you what happened, but then everything else happened.”

“It’s been a fucked up few days, but Jensen and Jeffrey will get to the bottom of things, Jared. You know them. They never give up.” Misha gently placed his arm around Jared’s shoulder, being extra careful with his injured arm.

Jared nodded. He turned slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He looked down at his feet.

Misha wanted to answer but a knock at the door interrupted him. He looked up as Jensen stuck his head in. “Jared, we found something, but I need your help.”

Jared looked at Misha and then at his best friend before he nodded his head. The two men followed Jensen out of the room.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“Shit,” Jensen sat back and bit down hard on his fist. The rest of the room was silent, the look on their faces said it all.

“How did he become vice-president?” Jared asked the question. He had managed to unlock the password his dad had on the laptop fairly easily and the encryption on the memory card itself wasn’t hard for him to decipher. They had all read the notes what appeared to be in Ian’s handwriting, and looked at all of the photographs on the memory card as well. Some of the photos were explicit and once or twice Jared had to look away before he got sick of what he saw.

“Politics and money.” Jeffrey answered. “That stage the President needed a strong running partner, and although there were a few choices, none of them had the financial backing that was needed to clinch the race. Everybody involved knew that the voters were more likely to vote for Matthews as president than for Sheppard, but since Sheppard invested so much money into the party and into the campaign, he couldn’t be ignored. In an attempt to keep the dream alive of becoming president the party came to an agreement. Sheppard would be made vice-president, but after the first term he wouldn’t place himself up for reelection. Although he still had the purse strings firmly in his hands, his ability to govern was limited. Seeing this, makes me grateful that it was, but at the same time I still can’t understand why no one said anything about this?”

“How did my dad find out about it?”

Jeffrey pointed to a name on the screen. “Because of that man. Mark Pellegrino. The devil incarnated. _The King of Hell_. President Matthews never trusted him. He used Ian to make sure Pellegrino stayed in line.” Jeffrey pushed his chair out. “One of Ian’s last missions had him worried. He didn’t tell me about it, but I could see it. The one thing that I did know was that President Matthews didn’t want to send Ian on that mission, but that he was forced into it by Sheppard and Pellegrino after Sheppard overplayed his hand in one or political spiel. Ian came back furious, but still refused to talk to me about it. He said it was classified, as if anything else he worked on wasn’t classified. I tried more than once to ask him about it, until he snapped. He nearly broke my damn neck on that day and told me to keep my nose out of things that didn’t concern me, unless I want to end up in a wooden box. It didn’t make sense. But now, with those photos, everything falls into place.”

“But why now?” Jared looked between the people gathered around.

“Sheppard decided to run for President. And I think between him and Pellegrino they’re making sure to tie up any and all loose ends – permanently.” It was Jim who supplied the possible answer. “There’s a bunch of rednecks in this area, the past few weeks they’ve been pestering us on the upcoming party nominations. Sheppard’s name crept up more than once. I never really took note of it, until now.”

“What do we do with this?” Jared swallowed hard. He had a pounding headache and the images he saw refused to go away.

“What I can tell you is that they were not looking for the accident report at the house, I don’t think Sheppard even remembers that, but this, this he would remember.” Jeffrey looked at Jensen and it was as if the two men held a silent conversation before Jeffrey spoke up again. “There’s only one person we can trust with this.” He looked at Jensen. “You want me to phone him?”

“Who are you going to phone?” Samantha spoke up. Her voice trembled. She was deeply distraught with the images they saw. “I thought it wasn’t safe to phone?

“We don’t have a choice in the matter anymore. I also think it’s better if you don’t know.” Jeffrey stood up. “I’ll check on Alona and the others and then make the call. The sooner we get this sorted out the better.”

“Make the call, I’ll go and check on Alona.” Jensen ejected the memory card and pushed it down his jean’s pocket. He came to a halt in front of Jared. “I’ll get you answers as well. For you and Jeff.” He leaned in and kissed Jared softly on the lips. He grinned as Jared blushed. “Love that I can do that to you.”

Misha cleared his throat. “Don’t you have things to do?”

Jensen laughed. “I thought you’d be happy.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I am, but I don’t need Jared fainting on me because the two of you knocked your boots together and he overextended himself.”

“Fuck, Misha. It was only a kiss.” Jared blushed at Misha’s words and Samantha managed to laugh.

“I think it’s time you get your shotgun out, Jim.” She squeezed her husband’s hand as they both smiled at Jared.

“I’m going to die of embarrassment,” Jared leaped to his feet and groaned as he jolted his arm.

“Steady,” Misha stepped fluently into his role as doctor and steadied Jared. “Let me have a look at that arm of yours again. I can also check out Jim’s as well.” He didn’t give Jared a chance to respond, but guided him back to his room.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“She’s fucking gone!” Jensen’s voice sounded through the house as he came down the stairs that led to the basement. He had his Glock in his hand as he swept the rooms as he searched for Alona.

Jeffrey was at his side in mere seconds and even as they headed towards Jared’s room, Misha came to the door where he looked at them before he closed it. They could hear him lock it. They found Jim and Samantha back in the living room. “Let’s get you to a safer place.” Jeffrey took Samantha by the arm and guided her and Jim to Ian’s study. The shutters were still closed and since they were all there mere minutes ago, they knew it was still clear. Jeffrey made sure of the fact and then took one of the extra pistols he had on him and handed it to Jim. “Just in case.”

Jim nodded his head and checked the weapon over. He pulled Samantha to his side.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“What the fuck?” Jeffrey asked as Jim locked the door behind them.

“Jensen shook his head. “She managed to escape her bindings.” He looked at Jeffrey. “She killed all four of her henchmen before she left, Jeffrey.”

“Fuck,” Jeffrey swore again. “Let’s find her.” He looked at Jensen. “Aim to kill, Jensen.”

“Aim to kill.” Jensen didn’t like it, but knew Alona wouldn’t hesitate in killing them.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

“She’s gone.” Jensen wiped the sweat from his brow and placed the Glock on the table in front of him. It was simmering hot outside. “She took Misha’s car and slashed the tires on Jim and Samantha’s cars.”

“You’re sure she’s gone?” Jim inquired. He knew his daughter, she had the ability to make you to believe one thing, while doing a totally different thing.

“Sure as can be at this stage.” Jensen looked at the group in front of him. “You haven’t made that call yet, I presume?” He focused his attention on Jeffrey.

Jeffrey looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t give you the time to do so. But, I think it’s time we did.”

“But wouldn’t she warn him, Sheppard I mean.” Jim questioned.

Jeffrey and Jensen shared a look before Jeffrey answered. “Sheppard is not one who takes kindly to failure. Not only did Alona not get what they were looking for but, neither does she know that we got it. She also had to kill four of her own team and Jared is still breathing. Alona might be many things in life, being stupid isn’t one of them. You know her, she’ll lay low, licking her wounds. She will not contact anyone. Not for a few hours in any case. Hopefully that will give us enough time to get the ball on the roll. Jeffrey took out the phone and entered the number from memory. It was time they called in the big guns.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Sheppard Residence: 5 hours later**

“Team 1, ready. All teams ready.” Jensen whispered over the Comms and silently counted down from three. On the zero count in his thoughts both entrances were breached simultaneously. There were four Black Ops teams in total. One in the sky, two on the premises and the fourth one holding the perimeter. The two teams on the premises worked like a well-oiled machine. They moved in near silence, clearing room after room. Every person they came across were easily taken down and secured. They would only shoot if fired upon. The first two levels of the mansion got cleared with ease. On the third floor some force had to be used to bring down a few burly bodyguards and then they got stopped by what looked like a solid steel door. It was controlled by a biometrics unit which scanned palm and eye prints. It also had a keypad where a code needed to be entered.

“What the fuck?” Jensen took a closer look at the door. He couldn’t estimate the thickness of the door, but it looked at least 18 inches thick and he would bet his last dollar that it was fire, blast and bullet resistant. There was no way they were going to open it up in mere seconds.

“Talk to me, Meyers.” Jensen spoke to the team lead as they both inspected the door.

“The only way I see us getting through this door is if we can override the system. None of the tools we’ve got available will get through this, not in a hurry in any case.”

“Fuckfuckfuck,” Jensen wanted to kick the door, but knew that it wouldn’t work. “Do you have someone on the team who can override the system?”

Meyers shook his head. “Our computer analyst is on maternity leave. We’ve got no one else at the moment.”

Jensen managed not to scream out in frustration. “There’s no other way into this part of the house?”

“Negative. We now know why this part of the house has no windows, this is really the only entrance.”

“So it’s climate controlled as well?” A plan started to form in Jensen’s mind.

“I would say so. What are you thinking?”

“That we may have a way in.” Jensen pressed his Comms down. “Team 1 to team 4 over.” He waited for the response and then continued. “Can you tell how many heat signatures there are in the eastern corner of the house?” Jensen cocked his head and arched his brow. “Sounds like he has his own private army in there.” He nodded. “Roger, team 1 out.” He let go of the Comms switch. He walked the hallway and lifted the different paintings and looked behind all the vases and strange statutes that decorated the space.

“What are you looking for?” Meyers asked with a frown.

“Sheppard is either over confident or very stupid. There’s no cameras. We might not be able to see inside, but they’re also blind, unless I’m missing something.”

Meyers frowned and walked the passage up and down himself. He double checked everything Jensen did. “I don’t see anything that can double as a camera either. Do you really think he’s that stupid?”

“Paranoid is what I would call him. He’s afraid that someone would hack into the feed if he used a camera system, that’s why it’s still high-tech technology, but not that high tech.” Jensen grinned. “Do you think the climate control system and the biometrics are linked?”

Meyers shrugged. “It’s possible.”

“I think it is.” Jensen ripped the binding of his tactical vest open and took out his phone. “Give me five minutes.” He pressed the speed dial button and waited for the phone to ring on the other side.

_“What’s wrong, it’s too quick?”_

“We ran into some technical problems. I think Jared might be the solution to the problem.”

_“You do realize that we are at the hospital?_

“Is he all right? I thought Misha said Jared only needs to be checked out?” Jensen couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice.

_“And that is what we are doing, and I’m not sending Jared in, Jensen, you can forget about it.”_

Jensen managed not to let Jeffrey hear him sigh in relief. “I don’t need him here, or I don’t think I need him here, Jeff. I need him behind a good computer. I know that you can arrange.” He quickly explained to the older man what they found.

_“You know that’s fucking risky, Jensen. Alona is still out there and now you want me to take him out to get him to a computer? I don’t think it’s a good idea.”_

“Then get the computer to him, Jeff, but he’s our only hope.” Jensen could hear Jeffrey moving around and knew he was pacing the room.

_“Give me ten minutes.”_

“You’ve got five.” Jensen ended the call. He would have to talk to Jared about the plan as well, but without a proper computer, Jared would not be able to help. “Let’s clear the building, and regroup for now.” Jensen issued the order. Until Jeff came back to him, there wasn’t much they could do.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Washington D.C. Memorial Hospital**

“What do you want me to do?” Jared asked even as Jeffrey pushed him down into a seat. They were what looked like to be a large conference room.

Jeffrey shook his head. “It’s not me who want you to do it, Jay. It’s that crazy ass friend of yours.” He pushed the satellite phone he picked up together with the secured laptop into Jared’s hands. “Boot that thing up and talk to Jensen.” Jeffrey walked around the table and picked a spot at the head of it. He lifted his feet onto the table and leaned back in his chair. His Glock pistol rested on his leg.

Jared wanted to respond but the phone rang in his ear and then Jensen spoke to him. He listened attentively and his mouth dropped open at what Jensen told him. Jared shook his head. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

Jeffrey looked on as Jared turned a bright red. He wondered what Jensen told Jared that made him blush like that. He would have to find out. It’s always a good idea to have blackmail material against the younger man. Jeffrey frowned as Jared’s shoulders slumped. He knew Jared hated to disappoint any of them and he came to his feet. Jeffrey held out his hand for the phone as Jared passed him again. “Start that thing, while I talk to Jensen.” Jeffrey squeezed Jared’s good shoulder in a show of support.

“Jensen, what do you want? You’re freaking Jared out.” He listened as Jensen explained their problem and shook his head. “He’s not going to be able to do it from here, Jensen. He needs to interact with the computer system on site and doing it remotely isn’t an option. I also told you I’m not going to send him in. There’s no fucking way that it’s going to happen.”

_“Then what the fuck do you suggest I do, Jeffrey?”_

“Find out who’s the best with computers on that side, set up a cam so that Jared can see what is going on and let the two of them communicate through the satellite phone.” Jeffrey sighed when Jensen mumbled. “That’s the best you can do. Phone us back when you’re set up on that side.” Jeffrey ended the call and turned to where Jared sat slumped forward. It was Jeffrey’s turn to sigh. “What’s eating you?”

“What if I can’t do it and things go to hell in a handbasket?”

Jeffrey lightly tapped Jared against the shoulder. “You do realize that you are you, right? You hacked into the Pentagon at the age of eighteen and nearly got away with it.”

“But that’s the thing, I didn’t. If I was good enough, I would’ve done it without being detected.”

“If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew you so well, I would’ve said your ego is bigger than your head. But, let me put it to you in another way. You know all of the agencies, including the Pentagon and Homeland employ hackers to test their systems. You got further into the system than any other person. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were testing a new security alpha rhythm, at that specific time, you would’ve gotten in all the way.” Jeffrey looked down at his own hands. “They wanted to bring you in, let you work at the Pentagon, but I spoke to President Matthews and I told him that Ian would have both our assess if he let you get involved in our line of work. We also had to find a way to get you off the drugs and to deter you from trying something like that again. That’s the reason why your sentence was structured in such a way. I know that the moment those ten years are over, Homeland and the Pentagon are going to trip over their feet to recruit you first. At least then you’ll be old enough to make an informed decision. I know you can do this. Jensen knows you can do it. So, go for it and let’s get Sheppard and Pellegrino for their crimes.”

Jared smiled. “If it wasn’t for the fact that I know you’re in love with Kim, I would’ve thought you were trying to get into my pants.”

Jeffrey laughed out loud. “You forgot, I know what’s in your pants.” He shook his head. “I overheard Misha threaten Jensen if he doesn’t treat you well. You do know I will kill him if he messes with you.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “I don’t know who the worst between you and Misha is? Seriously, I can take care of myself.”

“Seriously, I know you.” Jeff responded. He reached out and took Jared’s hand in his. “We may not be together anymore, Jay, but I still love you very much and I will always look out for you. In any way I can.”

Jared became serious. “Why had you never told me?”

Jeffrey shook his head. “I couldn’t. Jensen explained to you the nature of his job, my potential job. And just how did you want me to start with that conversation? Hi, Jared, my name is Jeff. Yes, I want to fuck you, but I also knew your dad and by the way, I was in the car when he got killed, but don’t ask me questions, because I can’t remember shit about it.”

“I just would’ve liked to know.” Jared shrugged. “At least you didn’t lie how you injured your leg.”

“That’s not something I could’ve hidden away.” Jeffrey rubbed his knee. “I would’ve changed places with Ian any day if I could, Jared. Your dad was so proud of you.” Jeffrey smiled. “He would’ve killed me if he found out I dated you. He warned me, he didn’t want me near you.”

“Do you have many stories about him?”

“I do. And I’ll share them all with you, I promise.” The satellite phone rang and Jeffrey answered it promptly. He held the phone for Jared to take. “It’s all sorted out, do you trick.”

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Sheppard Residence**

Jensen couldn’t help grinning as the biometrics system changed from a solid red on the sensor screen to a flickering green. Without wasting time, they entered the doorway. Almost immediately, gunshots could be heard. Luckily, they were ready for the assault and the teams moved steadily forward. Due their Intel with help of the heat sensors they know exactly how many possible hostiles there might be. The fire fight was intense, but finally it seemed to calm down. This part of the massive house no longer looked like something out of a décor magazine, but more like a battlefield like it had been. 

Jensen concentrated on the Intel that came in over his Comms as they started looking for the men they were sent to find and take in. It wasn’t strange that neither of the men didn’t take part in the gun battle, but it was strange that they couldn’t find them. There were only so many rooms in this part of the house and Jensen was certain that they’ve cleared them all. It could only mean one thing. They had one or other secondary hidey hole and Jensen had to find it.

He found Meyers staring at him. The captain had a nasty bruise on his right cheekbone and his right hand was bandaged up, some blood still seeped through. “We’re missing two rats.”

“Are you thinking they were never here?”

“No, they are still here.” Jensen tapped his fist against the wall. “I always liked those old movies where the bad guys had this secret panel in their houses that would lead to a dungeon of some sort. I think we’ve got something similar here.” Jensen used his Comms to radio Team 4 to do another heat signature scan. “The chopper isn’t picking up any other heat signatures, so where ever they are the place must be insulated – insulated against heat detection. So where would you put such a room like that?” Jensen spoke mostly to himself and then grinned. “The kitchen.”

Meyers clapped him on the back as they made their way back to the kitchen. Jensen stared at the layout. He turned a full circle. “Hallway, dining room, rest of massive place.” He pointed at each area with his finger. “But, if you stand in the dining room you’ve got an outside window, but the kitchen has no windows.” Jensen cocked his head. “He made his way over to the large walk-in refrigerator. “Bingo.” He grinned at Meyers, who frowned. He opened the door and indicated to Meyers to follow him. As they stepped inside, he counted his steps out loud. Jensen held up his hand as Meyers wanted to talk. He went back out and into the dining room right next door. He counted the same number of steps off. He was not standing at the outside wall of the building. There were at least another ten large steps until the wall. “Got it?” He looked over his shoulder at Meyers.

Meyers grinned. “Got it.” He reached for his own Comms unit to relay the new info. He followed Jensen as the man made his way back into the walk-in refrigerator. As Jensen started to knock against the back wall, Meyers did the same from the opposite side. Meyers noticed that the back wall of the walk-in was divided into three large panels.

“Here,” Jensen called out. He tapped at the spot again and it sounded hollow. It was the last panel on the left. “Now, we need to get this open.” He started using his fingers to trace the seams of the panel, to see if he could feel some type of indent which needed to be pressed down to make the panel slide open. After going over the whole back panel and finding nothing, Jensen was ready to scream.

“Maybe you need to say the magic words?” Meyers grinned from where he leaned against one of the cold racks.

“And maybe you need someone to kick your ass,” Jensen mumbled as he started looking again. He looked at the light fittings and then noticed the light switches just inside the door. “I think I found the magic words.” He made his way over to the panel. The one switches was in an up position, the other in down position. “Here goes nothing,” he flicked the switch on. A light hissed occurred from the back and then the door slid open. Finally, they got what they were looking for. The corridor looked empty. Jensen could hear Meyers talking through his Comms unit as he ventured into the hidden space. It was eerily quiet and Jensen’s shoulders tensed up.

Jensen didn’t venture in far, he was seasoned enough to know that where you go blindly into an unknown situation, you don’t do it alone. Unfortunately, he didn’t expect the door to slam shut behind him. He turned as if he could stop the door, but it was too late. He banged on the door, but couldn’t hear anything from the other side. He was cut off from the rest of the black ops team.

When the door remained closed, Jensen knew they’ve missed something else, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He took a quick look around, but found no sign of any switch that would open the door from where he was. It meant that it had to be remote controlled. “Fuck!” Jensen couldn’t help to swear. He also noticed that the space was divided up by what looked to be dry walling. The single room he thought he might find, now became a possible deathtrap as he had no idea how many people were there with him.

Being in the open, was not good and he knew he had to clear the room and get himself into a defendable position. His luck seemed to have run out, as three men came towards him. Things slowed down. He saw them raising their weapons, while he raised his at the same time. His first two shots were kill shots, while the third managed to escape death as they fired at one another. The man retreated and Jensen moved forward. He rounded the corner, but the target he had in sight just seconds before had disappeared. The sweat dripped into his eyes and he used the back of his hand to wipe his face clean. He hated the fucking position he was in. He couldn’t hear anything behind him and that meant that the sliding door was still closed.

Movement to the side of him made him spun around. There was no one there, but he knew it wasn’t his imagination. Jensen couldn’t ignore it and he slowly made his way across to check out the next room. A volley of shots had him ducking for cover and he managed to get a few shots off as well. Jensen finally reached the next room. It was once again empty. “They’re fucking toying with me.” He leaned against the wall and checked his weapons. “Why don’t you come out and face me head on, Sheppard!” Jensen shouted out of frustration. Silence was his only reply.

Jensen got to his feet. His body screamed out of exhaustion. He had no idea of what period of time has passed, but he had a feeling that they’ve been here for a couple of hours at least. The next room was empty. The corridor he was in came to an end. He could see one doorway to his right and what looked to be a closed door to his left. Jensen knew that in those two rooms he biggest challenge would lie. He would want to take out as many as possible, but he still had no idea on how many of Sheppard’s men there were. There was a great possibility that if Meyers couldn’t get that door open again, that he would perish here. Jensen growled. He wouldn’t let that happen. He might have told Jared that he was in love with him, but he wanted to show Jared just how much he loved him. He wanted to sing in Jeffrey’s bar, and play poker with Misha. He wanted to make Jared blush.

Jensen came to his feet just as someone stepped into his line of sight. He lifted his weapon, but it was too late. Even as his finger pressed down on the trigger, the shots fired towards him echoed through the room. He felt the impact of each one, but he fought back. Jensen felt the different bullets struck his body. His right leg gave way, but he kept his weapon steady. As he fell forward, his target tumbled to the floor and as Jensen’s eyes grew heavy, he swore he heard gun fire from behind him. The last thing he saw was the long blond hair of Alona as her head hit the floor and her lifeless eyes stared at him. They were wrong about her, she did come to warn Sheppard. Then it was dark.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Washington D.C. Memorial Hospital: 26 hours later**

“You need to drink this.” Misha held out the cup of tea to Jared. The younger man hadn’t said a word since the black ops operation went to hell.

Jared shook his head. He didn’t want anything to drink, he wanted answers, he wanted to know how Jensen was doing, but no one was telling him anything.

“Please, Jared. You need to stay hydrated. You’ve not eaten anything for more than a day now, at least drink the tea.” Misha tried again.

“I don’t want it.” Jared growled and slapped the cup out of Misha’s hand. He jumped to his feet. “Just leave me fucking be.” Jared tried to storm out, but got stopped in his tracks as a hand grabbed him around his bicep and pulled him back.

“Apologize to Misha.” Jeffrey kept the tight hold he had on Jared’s arm.

“Fuck you, you’re not my father. Let me go.” He jerked away hard. He had to get away, he couldn’t stand waiting around anymore.

“Luckily not, because if you were, I would’ve tanned your backside for you so hard you’d not be able to sit down for the next two days.” Jeffrey responded coldly.

“Go fuck yourself, Jeff.” This time Jared managed to yank his arm out of the steel grip and before Jeffrey could react he disappeared down the hall.

“Let him be, Jeff.” Misha used some paper napkins to clean the tea that spilled on his shirt and trousers. “I’ll go and look for him in a little while.”

“Misha.” It was Jeffrey’s turn to growl. “He can’t be that disrespectful. He might be a grown man, but he’s acting like a spoiled teenager.

Misha sighed. “He’s acting out of fear, Jeffrey. This past few days saw his whole universe turned upside down. One of his best friends died in an explosion. His old boyfriend not only knew his father, but was with him on the day he died, while the crush of his life is not a model, but a sanctioned spy, slash, assassin. Then I’m not even talking about a woman who he knows since he can remember who not only tried to kill her parents and his friends, but in the end nearly killed Jensen. He hasn’t had the time to digest all of it and with Jensen’s doctors being tight lipped about his condition and refusing us access to him, is not helping in any way or manner.”

“And why the hell is that, Misha? I thought you held Jensen’s medical proxy and sort of his primary physician. Why are we being stonewalled on Jensen’s condition?”

“That would be because of me, Mister Morgan.” A voice spoke up behind them.

Both men turned. Jeffrey recovered first. “Sir,” he gave a quick nod.

Christian Matthews smiled as he stepped deeper into the waiting room. He remained standing until one of his protection detail closed the door behind him. “You still have the ability to broadcast all of your emotions by just standing, Jeffrey.” The ex-president took a seat and looked at the two men who remained standing. “If you want to know what’s going on, I do suggest you sit down.”

Mish nodded and took a seat. He looked on as Jeffrey walked over to the wall and leaned against the window at his back.Matthews shook his head. “It’s no wonder Ian recommended you for his position.” He smiled. “Let me start at the end and see how many answers I can give you, before you try and kill me with your bare hands.” He indicated to the chair next to him. “Please, Jeffrey, take a seat.”

Jeffrey nodded and took the offered seat. “I’ve known you for a long time, Sir. But this is bullshit.”

Matthews stretched his legs out in front of him. “I agree, but as you’ve so eloquently put it, it was necessary bullshit.” He took a deep breath. “Let me start off by saying that Jensen will make a full recovery. He’ll need some physical therapy, but barred from any unforeseen complications, he will be as good as new.” Matthews looked on as the two men visibly relaxed.

“Why keep us in the dark?” Misha spoke up for the first time.

“National security.” Matthews shrugged. “The information you forwarded to me, was more sensitive than what any of you could imagine. Several of the women were identified in the footage and if we didn’t play our cards right, we could’ve had world war III on our hands.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “It was more than just clips of my ex-vice president raping different women. With further scrutiny of the files, we found more information imbedded. Ian had managed to get information that connected Sheppard to a world-wide sex trafficking ring. It included esteemed members from the Senate, but also highly place political figures throughout the world. Although that information was ten years old, our people used it and found out that the ring was still active. We had to act quickly and quietly.”

“You found the ring?” Misha sounded surprised.

Matthews nodded. “With today’s technology, we were able to infiltrate different organizations and people whose names were mentioned in the encrypted files. Since we had the key to know what to look for, it was easily done. The last of the ring was taken down an hour ago.”

“Sheppard and Pellegrino?”

A shake of the head gave them their answer. “Still no sign of them anywhere, but I can promise you, we’re looking.” Matthews came to his feet. “We had to share some of the information with the people out there. It is going to have a negative impact on the politics of this nation, and for the rest as the world as well. But, with what we’ve managed to do in the limited time we had at our disposal, meant that we could curb the damaged it will cause. This country is going to face a tough few months ahead, we can only hope that we’re strong enough to survive it.”

“What about the list of names and the accident report?” Misha inquired.

Matthews shook his head. “The list of names Jared managed to download all those years ago, was nothing. Sheppard and Pellegrino just needed their own hacker by what we could work out. With them not being able to get their hands on Jared, they took what was left.”

“And poisoned an already troubled young mind into something much worse.” Jeffrey shuddered. None of them would’ve thought that Alona would go back to warn Sheppard, but it seemed they were wrong. There were still some unanswered questions, but he feared they may never be answered.

“Correct,” Matthews agreed. “As for the accident report, well, I don’t think Sheppard even realized it ended up scanned and filed into an archive system. I would say it was pure luck that Jared found that, something that I’m personally very grateful for.” He tapped with his finger against his lips. “It seemed like Sheppard and Pellegrino found out that Ian might have gathered some information on them. They thought that with his death that the problem was solved.” He shook his head. “But then someone started using Ian’s old codename in connection with something totally irrelevant and that got them spooked. Spooked enough to start digging again. They must’ve found out that Ian always brought Jared a key chain with from wherever in the world he was and knew that if he had info on them, it might be in there.”

“They were merely fishing.” Jeffrey responded furiously.

“And nearly got away with rape and murder.”

Misha looked at the two men. “With all due respect, Sir, you still didn’t tell us why we were refused access to Jensen.”

Jeffrey spoke up before the ex-president could answer. “Because we were under suspicion as well. Including Jensen. They kept us here, making sure that they could rummage through our lives without us interfering.”

Matthews nodded. “I knew they wouldn’t find anything.”

Misha wanted to respond, but Jeffrey shook his head and he remained silent. Both men looked on as the ex-president exited the waiting room. Only when the door closed behind the man, Misha spoke up. “What the fuck?”

“Matthews said more than what he should’ve, Misha. The fact that he told us that the info we found is going to have an impact on the nation, and that there will be difficult times ahead, has to tell you that it’s not just limited to members of the Senate. This goes even higher up. They had to make sure that when this gets out in the public and the grand jury gets involved that the information would stand.”

Misha groaned. “Why do I have a feeling this is just the beginning?”

Jeffrey grunted. “And not the beginning of great things, that’s for sure.”

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Washington D.C. Memorial Hospital – 48 hours later**

“You had me worried, Jay.” Jensen spoke softly. He was still drugged and tired, but at least he was pain free and he no longer felt loopy.

“No, you’re the one who got shot, nearly died.” Jared shifted on the chair. He failed to hide the grimace on his face as he jolted his injured shoulder.

“Where’s your sling?”

Jared pulled a face. “It’s bothersome and hot.” He rubbed at the spot on the back of his neck. His shoulder throbbed, but he didn’t say it out loud.

“Bend forward,” Jensen instructed and took a look at Jared’s neck. “It chafed the skin at the back of your neck. Tell Misha and let him fix the sling for you, it’s not supposed to do that. You’ve got to wear the sling, Jay. It will help with the pain in your shoulder that you’re experiencing because your arm is now hanging down your side.”

“How did you know?”

“That your arm is hurting?” Jensen smiled. “I’ve managed to catch a bullet through the shoulder before, I know how it feels. Especially, if you don’t wear your sling.”

Jared looked down at his hands. “I was an ass towards Misha.”

“Just an ass?” Jensen grinned. “He told me you were upset. He knows it isn’t personal. He’s more concerned about not being able to contact you.” Misha had told Jensen that since Jared fled the hospital waiting room they had no idea where he went to.

“I just had to clear my head.” Jared stood up. “I should go.”

“Jay,” Jensen waited for Jared to look at him. “Sit down, talk to me.”

Jared sat back down.

“You saved my life.” Jensen reached out and took Jared’s hand in his.

“It was nearly too late.” The words were spoken softly.

“It was in time.” The last thing Jensen remembered was Alona falling down on the floor in front of him. They had no idea that she was in the building or that she would be the one who would take the last stand in order for Sheppard and Pellegrino to make their escape. The black ops team had found a secret passage that went underneath the house, going underground until it came out two houses away. By the time the team found and followed the route, the two men were long gone. Alona had offered herself up for them to escape. She nearly managed to kill Jensen, if it wasn’t for Meyers, who kept his head and contacted Jeffrey with their problem, they wouldn’t have been able to override the secondary system with the help of Jared and get to Jensen in time before he bled out.

“Jim and Samantha left.”

Jensen closed his eyes. “They didn’t leave you, Jay. They need time to heal. They will be back.” He tapped Jared on his hand. “And before you even think about it, they are not angry with you, Jared. You did nothing wrong. I can promise you they still love you. I will not be surprised if Samantha phones you in the coming days to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“I met the ex-president.” Jared said with a soft smile. “He told me dad used to call him Boss. He liked my dad.”

Jensen was used to Jared jumping from topic to topic. He knew Jared would bring Jim and Samantha up again when he was ready. Jeffrey had informed him that he saw Jared in conversation with the ex-President. Whatever the conversation was about made Jared look younger. It seemed that Matthews knew just what to say to Jared. “Jeff has told me a lot about your dad, Jared. He sounded like an awesome guy.”

“He would’ve liked you.” Jared looked up. “They’re going to impeach the President.”

Jensen nodded. “I do think he’ll resign before that.” Matthews was right. The information that Ian got, had even more far reaching consequences than what they ever expected. Not only did it implicate the Secretary of State, but also the Speaker of the house of Representatives, and the current President himself. It was because of the fact that Jensen was reporting to the man directly, that they were scrutinized in such a manner. He had a feeling that if it wasn’t for Matthews that they all might have ended up in Guantanamo Bay for questioning before everything was resolved. At least, it seemed like the Vice President was not implicated in any way and it would be upon his shoulders to carry the nation through this bleak period of time.

“Do you still have a job?”

“What are you afraid you’ll have to support for me until we grow old and die together?” Jensen responded with a smile.

Jared grinned. “You know I can’t work. I’m a delinquent. You’re the one who should support me.”

Jensen laughed and hissed as he pulled some of his stitches. Jared blanched at the sight. “Easy, I’m all right. I just need to remember that I can’t laugh like that.”

“No, I don’t have a job at the moment, but you don’t have to worry about supporting me. You can keep on being the delinquent, I’ll support you.” Jensen said with a smile.

Jared mocked sighed in relief. “I don’t think I’d make out a good short order cook. You know I burn water.”

Jensen shook his head. “We can’t have that.” He squeezed Jared’s hand. “When I get out of here, I want to take you on a date, will you go with me?”

Jared cocked his head. “You want to date me, seriously?”

“Well, if I’m going to call you my boyfriend, I should say it’s sort of traditional, hell, even important to go on dates.”

“Only if you buy me ice cream.”

“Of course I’m going to buy you ice cream.” Jensen pulled Jared closer to him and kissed him full on the lips. He deepened the kiss as Jared’s lips parted and granted him access to taste him. Jensen continued to kiss the younger man until they both needed to breathe. He pulled away and looked Jared in the eye. “I love you, Jared Padalecki.”

“I love you too, Jensen Ackles.” Jared leaned in for another kiss. He didn’t complain as Jensen managed to pull him onto the bed next to him. He sighed as Jensen curled around him and the last thing he remembered was Jensen’s hand covering his before he gave himself over to the realm of sleep.

Jensen lay behind Jared as he kept him close. He finally got the young man right where he wanted him – safe in his arms. He intended to keep it like that until the end of their days.

****

**J2_Reversebang 2017**

**Prague: Průhonice – 6 months later**

He moved silently. The brand-new hotel was fully booked, which was the way he liked it. The chances of him being spotted was slim. He made his way up to the second floor and moved down the corridor to the last suite on the right. He didn’t have to wait long before the red indicator on the keyless door turned from red to green and he slipped unnoticed into the room.

It was a large suite and consisted of a living and dining area. The bedroom was at the back and held an extra length king sized bed. The bathroom consisted of a whirlpool tub with a glass-enclosed separate shower and a set of two personal washbasins. He didn’t take note of any of the details, but made his way into the bedroom.

The room was covered in darkness, but the night vision goggles he put on after entering the room made it easier to see. The two bodies were entwined in bed. A thin sheet covered their lower halves and it wasn’t difficult to see that both men were naked. Without wasting time, he did what he came to do. After he completed the task he took out a phone, snapped two photos and sent them off. He didn’t touch anything as he made his way out of the room and out of the hotel.

He was just in time to pick up the handmade gift before he had to board his flight to go back home. The handmade Bohemia crystal key chain in a form of a double tailed lion fitted perfectly in the small rectangular box that he kept in his coat pocket. He couldn’t wait to see his boyfriend’s face when he presented this key chain to him. It would be the first of many, but for both of them, this one would always be extra special.

**The End**


End file.
